Brass and Lightning
by RaygunRenee
Summary: The weight of the world lies on Jihl's shoulders. Charged with commanding a special forces unit tasked to stop the terrorist group 'Freedom', from using the ARK's to change humanity into Cie'th. As if she wasn't struggling enough, her friends get thrown into the mix. Now with everything she holds dear on the line, what comes first? Her friends or the Mission?
1. Chapter 1

Brass and Lightning

It had been a surprising flash of movement, yet one which lightning had acted like her namesake. The rose haired man looked dead long before he could even aim his gun at the plump gentleman now behind the pinkette. Thankfully Gran Pulse's emergency services took just a minute to show up at the mention of a Cocoonian, yet they helped her, especially with a cup of coffee, a blanket thrown over her and a cigarette in her hand. Looking up she huffed and shook her head. "Now I've done it." She murmured to herself, preferring to enjoy her cigarette in peace, rather than have someone say how grateful they were. The man she saved approached her much to the paramedic's dismay, as they had yet to finish checking over every little thing from his heart rate to the levels of protein in his coffee. Seriously Gran Pulse really annoyed her sometimes. Although with his attacker laying against the wall with a bright smear of blood behind him and a hole in his chest, he made his way over.

"Miss Farron." He flashed a warm grin, much akin to the rest of the gentleman's aura, the way his face somewhat resembled a Saint Bernard helped to put her at ease. He pointed to the spot beside her. "May I?"

Without a word she moved over to let him sit beside her.

"Thank you. I would like to express how thankful I am for your rescue. Had it not been for your intervention, it would be paramedics picking my body off the pavement." She rolled her eyes and looked away, she hated it when she was right. He chuckled and reached for his own cigarettes. Tucked away in a week's wages for Lighting was the small packet of premium cigarette's, two weeks maybe even three. "They're from Cocoon. If I had to pick something I go to cocoon for it'd be these. You just can't make good cigarettes by the thousands. Want one?" He shook the packet so one stuck out for her.

More an order than a question she thought to herself before reaching over cautiously.

He stopped and pulled it out, handing it over to her and grinning again. "Jeez at this rate I'll be dead before you take it. Older people like me tend not to hate Cocoon so much, there's just something about being old that makes everything pleasant you know. Like really what's the difference between us, you have pale skin and I have dark skin. That ain't much if you ask me."

"Sorry it's just... Being a cop here, being a Cocoonian here isn't the easiest thing." She tossed her cheap cigarette onto the ground and extinguished it under the chunky armored boots she wore.

"So if I could do one thing for you what would it be?" He lit his cigarette and kept it between his lips as he spoke.

"If I could walk down the street without everyone glaring at me like a behemoth just broke into the city that'd be nice." Lightning took a puff of her cigarette and exhaled, relaxing a bit as she took in the flavoured smoke, cherry if she wasn't mistaken.

"That's a little out of my power. I might be the chairman of the Pulse racing league but even I have limits to what I can do."

"Thank you sir, it was nice to talk to someone kind." Holding the cigarette between her fingers she stood up and bowed her head low before turning around to leave.

"Hold on a minute." He called out, sending chills down her spine. Lightning tensed up and swallowed, knowing what was to come

He chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Relax I just want to give you this. If you ever need a favour just call me. Saving an old man's life is worth something."

Stunned. That's how Lightning would describe herself right now. In her six months of working in Pulse, he was the first to actually speak to her and not just bark orders to her like a dog.

Her hands grabbed it, barely as she looked up to see the man smiling cheerfully at her.

"Please forgive me sir but you are awfully kind even for an old man. I mean, most Pulsians would argue that they have given enough."

"Well it wasn't just me you know. Back when I used to race myself there was a man from Cocoon, Sazh Katzroy. He helped me see that Cocoonians weren't all bad, that and he saved my butt from trouble more than once. Well, I think I've taken up enough of your time. Goodnight miss Farron, the pleasure was mine." He tipped his hat as he walked away, the crowd of armored soldiers parting to let him through.

Stuffing the card in her pocket she followed suit and hurried through the crowd of glaring looks. A Cocoonian with a gun to these people, she might as well been the gunman.

Back in her apartment Lightning put her things down and hurried to the bathroom for a much-needed shower. Much like she expected her handgun which was designed to be able to deal with a gorgonopsid as much as a person hadn't just blown a hole in the man on the business end but had sent quite a bit of mess her way as well. She cleaned as much blood off of her face as she could and lathered herself in soap to get rid of the smell.

Now that she had a moment to think, she had seen the man before. He had a little girl that he'd go with to the supermarket with on Sundays, she even talked to him a little. Nothing substantial just once or twice for bumping into him while she was spacing out or when his little girl was being hyperactive, she had once stared and pointed at Lightning and shouted. "Look daddy that woman has fairy floss hair!" Lightning had just smiled, reminded of Serah when she was a kid. The man however was horrified at what the little girl did and apologised way to much.

But now he was just another box in the ground.

Lightning stepped out and sighed again, grabbing the towel off the hook. She needed another cup of coffee and this time not the cheap instant kind that the paramedics carried in the back of their trucks but something decent and expensive, so the tin of imported coffee from Cocoon.

Half an hour later, a showered and refreshed Lightning laid in the large armchair that served as one of the few adornments to the place. Another being the low set wood table that she had found in a second-hand store. The reason it had caught her attention was how life like the wood felt, the seller of course insisted that it was actual wood but that was unlikely. She had only ever seen a wooden table at her grandparents home, a long, long time ago.

Ignoring the dilemma regarding her lack of knowledge of Pulse she thumbed over a page in the book she was reading, finding herself drowsier by the minute. The rain pattering against her window only further hindered her attempts at making any good progress through the book.

Stumbling as quiet as she could Jihl glanced up and stared into the lounge room of her apartment. There was some kind of pinkish blob curled up in the armchair, Lightning's armchair. Did she bring someone home last night?

Pausing for a moment she turned and shut the door behind her, making sure it was locked before approaching the thing in the chair. With enough alcohol to make the officer tipsy, she crept over to get a look at the thing some more. Whatever it was, it'd be safer if Jihl took care of it before Lightning did. Unless of course it was the pinkette herself.

"Hey, guess you had a rough day huh." Crouching down and she looked at the pinkette, her brows furrowed as Jihl reached over and gave her a gentle shove, something few people could do without their arm being broken in at least one place. "Come on, you'll be cranky if you sleep the whole night in your chair

"Oh it's you..." Dopily Lightning stretched, nearly hitting the blonde in the cheek.

"Yes it's me. Now are you going to sleep somewhere decent?" Jihl took in the aroma of the coffee on the table and looked at it. "May I? I've never had real coffee before. Can't believe you were hiding good coffee, traitor."

"Sure." Lightning waved her hand towards the tin sitting on the counter as she yawned and stretched from her nap. "How did it go?"

"My date? The usual." Jihl put two sugars into one of the mugs labelled with her name on the side in permanent marker she brought. Preferring to wear her glasses in the apartment, she took them out of their case and rested them on her nose, tucking the case back into the pocket of her jeans.

"Damn that's annoying. Maybe you should give me a try?"

Jihl scoffed and smirked. "Hmm snoring and passing out in the living room, sounds good but no thanks. Maybe another day."

"Well fine, I'm going to bed, without you, night." Lightning teased before stretching again and trudging over to her room.

"Thanks for the coffee." Jihl chirped in as she held the fresh cup in her hands.

"No problem Jihl." Lightning disappeared into her room leaving Jihl to herself.

Even while training as an officer back on Cocoon there was no way she could afford something like this. Taking a sip she let out a content sigh and retreated to her room.

Everyone called the blonde cruel and harsh which was true, she would never deny such a thing in public. It was just her way of dealing with her job and having everyone think you were an invincible badass never hurt. Plus there was no room for soft feelings when she was at work, especially as she had just recently been given command her own team, so now every decision had to be the right decision. However, when her door was closed and her glasses were on her nose she could drop the whole tough girl facade and relax. Taking another sip of her coffee she leaned back and listened to the Mittens playing through her computer.

Which was annoyingly interrupted when the TV switched over to the news and started broadcasting about her unit. Intrigued, she turned and looked at the news article on the television, turning her computer down.

"People of Cocoon and Gran Pulse can relax easier now. It was confirmed that earlier today a siege on the building behind me resulted in thirty-seven deaths. All were confirmed members of the Freedom Liberation Group that have been organising terrorist attacks over Gran Pulse." She paused as the screen brought up a picture of Jill. The blonde cringed at the picture of herself.

"The siege was commanded by the newest Captain in the GP20, Jihl Nabaat. With both sides now contributing their efforts towards the capture of the Freedom Liberation Group's leader, who still remains anonymous. Lieutenant Amodar commented that the problems would soon be resolved and that the increase in attacks would soon be resolved. Closer to home, just hours ago the chairman of the Pulse racing league was assaulted by an armed assailant. Fortunately, an officer was able to prevent and apprehend the criminal. Whether this attack was conducted by the..."

Jihl switched the TV off and sat the remote to the side, turning her music back on.

"Damn they didn't say who actually did the siege. Taking the credit..." Jill sighed and sipped away at her coffee. "Poor Lightning..." Jihl huffed and spun around in her chair, taking another sip as she stopped herself with her foot and turned the computer back up. "What! A new ep." Setting the cup down a little more forcefully than she had wanted she darted about her computer. "Guess I'll download it while I sleep..." Stripping down from her uniform she pulled herself into a pair of pyjamas she dove on her bed and took her glasses off. Rolling to her feet she flicked the lights off.

"That was some good coffee."


	2. Chapter 2

Brass and Lightning Chapter 2

* * *

Lightning stretched in the riders' leathers she was wearing as put the stand down on her motorbike. Looking around most of the other officers all had eco-cars, chuckling to herself she rolled her eyes. Her pink hair fell to her shoulder as she took her helmet off as she walked by Jihl's car, it was... a Prius. The woman was a ruthless special forces captain and she drove a Prius. If she was hoping to be a badass she'd have to upgrade her mode of transport. Filled with a sense of pride Lightning turned around and looked at her bike parked beside Jill's Prius. It was a Honda CBR1000rr which had cost her quite a bit to get transported over from Cocoon. Apparently, Gran Pulse preferred Cocoonian technology, which was a dozen or so years behind to stay where it was and to rather 'Live natural, live healthily." She cringed at the stupid slogan and pushed through the doors, that healthy crap didn't stop the person who always parked beside her on their GSX1100.

Hurrying through the maze of desks and people that had been stirred up recently, Lightning expertly made her way past a group of male prostitutes and an augmented midget. Unable to help herself she stared at the tiny guy smoking a cigarette and tapping on his robotic knees with his equally robotic hands. "Come on, so I had a few concealed modifications who doesn't these days..."

Looking back up she pressed herself against a wall as Ingrid pushed a trolley filled with boxes. She stopped and gave Lightning a smile. "Oh good morning, now I got something for you... Where did it, AHA!" Reaching underneath the boxes she produced a thick black folder and handed it over. "There you go. Oh and the Lieutenant wants to speak to you about your assignment. Have fun." She spoke with as much forced excitement as she could muster before she hurried off to deliver a few hundred more folders.

Lightning sat the folder down on the benches behind her desk and began changing out of her riding gear and into her uniform. Picking up the bulky bulletproof vest she huffed and shook her head, putting her arms through the holes and doing up the thick straps before reaching down for her shirt. Thankfully it had been redesigned just before she transferred here so she skipped out on wearing the tacky old olive green military era uniforms. Instead, she changed into a white button up shirt with the Gran Pulse Police Department insignia stitched over her left breast and on her shoulders. As she finished buttoning up her shirt and fastening the navy blue tie around the collar of her shirt as she reached for her dark black cargo pants earning a whistle that drew her attention away from the garment. Looking over to the buffoon who was about to see the error of their ways, she groaned, ignoring them as she went back to dressing.

"Hello Officer Yun."

"Oh, it's a good morning now Sunshine." Fang took the time to watch all of Lightning as she rushed and pulled her trousers on. Fang being apart of the GP20 didn't have an official uniform and so was dressed in her signature black tank top and blue jeans. Throwing a thick silver hoodie with 'ASIX' written across the chest in large black letters. A pair of expensive as hell Converse high top shoes ran up the bottoms of jeans.

"Please tell me you didn't come down here just to stare at my ass." Lightning shot the woman a glare before continuing to get dressed.

"Would you be upset if I did?" Fang recoiled from the expression Lighting was giving her. Given that she had been staring at Lightning's behind a second ago even she might have overstepped it. "Actually Jihl sent me. Turns out that John you shot last night goes by the name Marcus Ingrid. A prophet in the Freedom Liberation Group."

Lightning shut her locker and walked beside Fang. Maybe now that she wasn't giving out parking fines she'd actually get to do some work. "So what, I'm joining the GP or something?"

Fang paled as she looked to Lighting. "Oh. You haven't spoken with the chief yet have you?"

"I just got here." Lightning looked up at the stocky man, standing in the doorway of his office. He waved her over before stepping back inside.

Fang collapsed down into Lightning's chair and grinned. "Talk to you in a bit." Much to Lightning's annoyance and judging from the mischievous smile on her face, Fang was messing things up on purpose, already. "I'll put everything back sunshine."

Lightning nodded and punched her in the arm "Stay out of my drawers this time." If there was anything Lightning valued it was her privacy. In the bottom drawer of her desk she kept letters from her friends back on Cocoon for whenever she felt betrayed by the justice she fought to uphold, which considering she got thrown into parking duty any time she neared an actual case, it was pretty often. The rest of her little sister's letters were stashed back in her apartment, it helped Lightning pass the long hours of paperwork.

"Hey lady. Come on, I have a pocketknife in my hand, is that really illegal?"

"Sorry?" Lightning looked at the man from before with the synthetic leg and arm. She clicked her finger as her brain went into overdrive mode and dug through so much useless information. "Umm... Yes if it's an aftermarket concealment it's classified as a dangerous weapon under the Synthetic Rights Act Part 3: Synthetic Defence Modification Laws and Regulations."

The officer escorting the man, Hargrave maybe, smiled and gave her a slight nod. It wasn't the first time that she had helped him with a loud criminal, although it would be nice if he could just bring up information like that. Just read the damn book. She kept her complaint hidden under her stoic expression as she continued forth.

The synth huffed and shuffled past, mumbling to himself in defeat. "It was a damned pocketknife, I used it for boxes..."

The chief's door closed and shut out the noisy hustle and bustle of the station outside, leaving the white noise of the air-conditioner and the clink of the chief's cigarette lighter to fill the room.

"Sir. Officer Yun said you wanted to speak with me." Lightning stood at attention two feet in front of his desk.

"Please, have a seat." The chief sat his cigarette down and looked at her with his eyes bearing that telltale sign of something unpleasant.

Lightning knew it too. The whole sit down thing only happened when the higher-ups wanted a Pulsian to take over a case and make them look good.

"Right sir." Yet she followed along and sat down.

"You already know and I'm sorry Farron. The higher-ups are keeping everything Freedom Group away from non-Pulse officers. Here's your new case." The chief awkwardly avoided the stupid 'Cocoonian' label Pulse had given them after the way, it sounded stupid.

Lightning nodded. "Makes sense, we can't overlook the possibility they have people on the inside." She looked at the picture of the short blonde on his desk as she reached over and took the folder. Her cerulean eyes scanning over the long-winded contents that pretty much said 'parking tickets, yay. "Well, at least it's not garbage duty this time. How's Kate?" Lightning sat the folder down wanting to change the subject.

The chief sighed in relief, most of his Cocoonian officers exploded when the higher-ups swooped in and took their case off of them, Lightning, however, was a rarer case. She had exploded once and that was when the command had stepped in to stop her from arresting a circle of drug traffickers. She went ten rounds on her locker especially when they put her on parking duty immediately after.

"She's good, finally settling in at that bakery, what was it called..." He scratched at his short black beard hoping to jog his memory, fading over the years spent behind a desk. "Ah the damn thing escapes me. It's nice to see the bakers there are treating her right though, hard to find anyone who will take people from Cocoon."

"So who's taking care of Ingrid's kid?" She raised an eyebrow and looked at the captain.

He nodded and picked up his cigarette. "She's been taken into protection. I'm not a liberty to say just who is taking care of her." He scribbled something down on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk. 'Lebreau.' Taking it back he lit the corner with his lighter and sat it in his ashtray. "So your assignment's clear?"

"Yes sir, although I'm a little surprised that they gave me something that could actually classify as work."

The captain smirked and took another puff of his cigarette. "Well, it did take a lot of pushing and pulling, especially by Captain Nabaat. You're technically under guard in case of a retaliation attempt by the terrorist group and the only unoccupied officer is Officer Yun. Which brings me to the next thing, I want you to undergo therapy with Officer Yun."

"You're kidding?! Sir?" Lightning winced at her little outburst.

The captain picked up his cigarette. "You know that I have all of my officers undergo counselling when they first pull the trigger. Yun is available and can keep you in the field as she checks you out."

"I think she's already had plenty of time to check me out, sir. May I ask why I'm being assigned with Yun and not Heather or Sinclair?"

"Heather and Sinclair have their hands full with all the effects of the terrorist activity. One last thing, with all this anti-pulse terrorism the higher-ups want to push the idea of Pulse-Cocoon unity so they're coming around to the idea of you teaming up with members of the GP20 for a while. However, I want you to be careful. They might excellent officers but from what I've seen they're more dangerous than the terrorists.

"Of course. Is that all sir?"

"No." The captain ignored her comment, having worked as police chief for three decades he was well aware of Pulse's idea of unity. You're dismissed. I'll leave you to Officer Yun then." He looked out the window to the Pulsian spinning around in Lightning's chair and adjusting the height and the angle of the back.

"Yes, sir." Lightning gave him a salute before hurriedly walking out before the pesky woman could do too much damage.

Fang sat with a saddened expression as she held the photo of Lightning and her little sister, Serah who was clinging onto Lightning for dear life. It was the day Lightning left Cocoon with Fang. Lightning and Fang were inseparable back then, the two rookies who were going to change the world. Her gaze shot away from the little lycanthrope that she was looking past and over to the officer walking towards her.

"Who's a cute little werewolf? You're a cute little werewolf..." Fang grinned and poked the little lupin in the chest.

"Fang." Lightning growled and glared daggers at the woman hiding behind the werewolf that Serah had sent her for the release of some stupid magical movie back in Cocoon.

Fang sat the little guy back up on the desk and then pried herself from Lightning's chair, grunting as she rose to her feet. "God, how do you sit in that thing all day Sunshine?"

"The promise of pay and a hot meal when I'm done." Lightning looked at her desk and sighed in relief, Fang had at least taken care to put everything back in its place, including... Her fingers ran over the newly added slip of paper tucked under a stack of books. Pulling her hand back she spun around, she'd look at it later when the Pulsian wasn't around to tease her.

"So Sunshine, you all ready to go kick some criminal butt?" Fang grinned and threw her arm around Lightning's shoulders, much to her annoyance. Mumbling under her breath, Lighting moved away from Fang.

"So I'm helping you with paperwork or something?" Lightning grabbed her badge and gun just in case, making sure the safety was on before she tucked it in the holster on her leg.

With her usual cocky grin, Fang proceeded into the elevator. "Nope, I've got to check out a few places today, there's a chance they might have ties to the Freedom Group. Figured I'd dive right into the action and since you're here to watch my back." The doors closed behind them and Fang pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Wait... You mean actual work." Lightning's heart rose and left her feeling relieved, no garbage duty for her today. She hummed practically brimming with energy as she rested against the wall. She hadn't felt this excited for work since the academy. Fang really knew how to treat a girl. It was a shame she wasn't more serious like Jihl, not that the blonde didn't have flaws of her own. Her personality for one could be downright scary at times.

"Yep." Fang crossed her arms over her puffy grey jacket and snuggled down into the fur collar. "So I'm sure the chief told you about the psych stuff." She glanced over at Lightning who was looking down at her phone.

"He did. So you're making the rounds on the girls again?" lightning tucked her phone back into her pocket.

Fang looked over at her and grimaced, her hand nearly reaching out to Lightning's shoulder before she slumped back against the wall. "You're still angry about that?"

"Of course I am. You just up and left me because of your work and then a week later you started going out with other girls." Lightning furrowed her brows and projected her anger towards the floor. "You called have at least talked to me..."

"It wasn't... like that. It was work."

"Really work? At a cafe over cakes?" Lightning looked over to Fang who was stripped of her usual bad-ass attitude.

"Yes, I find it's easier to talk to someone when you're not being peppered by bullets."

Lightning took a deep breath to keep herself from tearing up. "Right so why'd you leave me then, was getting in their pants apart of your work too?"

"No!" Fang looked at Lightning and scrunched up her face. "I never... You're right. I screwed up okay."

The elevator doors opened and a tiny man looked at the women and stepped back from the deadly aura coming from the elevator.

"Grab the next one." Fang closed the doors again and looked back at Lightning.

"Claire. I had just been put into the GP and dealing with everyone's problems as well as fighting remnant cie'th from the war, I didn't want to involve you in all that."

"Urgh!." Lightning grabbed Fang's collar and pulled her close. "But I wanted to be involved Fang! I knew the risks and still tried to be beside you. I told you that four years ago, back in the academy remember. Yet you just pushed me away." Lightning let a choked sob escape to the surface and she let fang go, "Goddammit. I left everything to be here with you Fang. My sister, my friends, my home... and you just threw me away."

Fang stood there stunned, her mouth sitting agape. "Claire I wanted to come back I was just... I didn't want you to get hurt."

Lightning managed to put her usual stone-faced look up before she turned to the emerald green eyes hiding behind Fang's messy black hair. "Scared? Yun Fang, you were scared of me?"

Fang nodded weakly and moved a little closer to the cerulean eyes that had caught her attention the first month of the police academy. Back then things had been different, pleasant even. No weight of the world on their shoulders, just two kids dreaming of being policewomen one day, then again putting it like that made them seem like a bunch of old ladies now.

A long forgotten smile caught Fang's attention as Lightning softened and took a deep breath. "After you left me and after the rumours started up I thought you had never loved me... That I was just a game to you, all this time. You really piss me off you know." Lightning took a deep breath and gave Fang a subtle grin. It was nice to have the idiot back in her arms, even if the idiot had left her when she needed her the most. Without anger and frustration Lightning continued. "Why didn't you come back?"

"After our fight you mean?" Fang's shoulders sagged. "We fought just before I was getting deployed with the GP, back when we were actually hunting cie'th. Well, our mission was prolonged a bit when we stumbled upon an unopened ark. I can't say what happened down there but we stopped being the GP defence force and started being the GP20. There were seventy-three members before we down..." Fang took a deep breath and shook, much to Lightning's surprise who reached out and held onto Fang.

"Fang..."

The Pulsian gave her a smile and pulled her into a hug, one which Lightning didn't mind all too much.

"Lightning, the things I saw it gave me nightmares, horrible ones and then the hallucinations and it tore me apart. I couldn't go back to you like that, I didn't want you to see it. Jihl forced me to take a few months medical leave so I studied the counselling thing. Figured if I could figure out what was wrong with me I could fix it. Then you know, the women, the cafes. It was nice to sit and talk to someone who knew nothing about me, just a stupid woman with nightmares. It helped and eventually the nightmares stopped, the hallucinations stopped. When I went to go back everything crumbled, I was getting redeployed. One of my regulars, a friend I guess went drinking with me, I wanted to talk to her about it and about you. But I screwed up, had too much to drink. Next thing I know I was waking up in her bed and as sore as hell, a headache that felt like it too."

Lightning's heart crumbled as she watched the woman she had known to be invincible spill her heart and guts, her eyes red and teary. When Fang looked up at her Lightning swore under breath and met Fangs look.

"Fang I'm sorry...

Fang chuckled and sighed, stepping forward and pinning Lightning to the elevator wall, she had waited years to do this. "Don't be Sunshine. I'm just glad now you know."

In a moment of surprise, Lightning leapt on her, figuratively of course and kissed her. Her pale pink lips pressed against Fangs as they both reminisced for a moment, forgetting about everything, well nearly everything.

'Brrr. Brrrr!' Jihl snapped and grabbed her phone, darting at lightning's speed to shut the damned thing up. It was too late... They had heard her.

Both Fang and Lightning had looked over to see the blonde woman fumbling with her phone and then drop it.

"Oh damn it." She crouched down and picked it up, letting out a quick huff when she noticed two pairs of eyes on her. The show was over but her friends... She could nearly break character and give the two a genuine smile, something she only ever did when she was back in the safety of her apartment. Gotta stay cool Nabaat, she reminded herself as she stood up.

"Jihl, morning." Lightning was red-faced as she stepped back and quickly tidied herself up, her hair was a mess and her face, oh god. She relaxed when she felt a hand on her shoulder, closing her eyes she took in the soothing Pulsian accent that followed.

"Hey, I guess we'll finish this later. Morning Ma'am." Fang went out first and waved to Jihl as she hurried outside. Her captain had just found her making advances on her friend.

Coughing, Jihl smiled. "Good morning to you too. I'm glad to see you're back together?" She raised an eyebrow at Lightning who looked no worse for wear as she stepped out, not that the mess of pink hair could get any worse.

"I'm not too sure at the moment. I'll see you later Jihl."

"Sure thing. Though in future do remember elevators don't go forever. You do have quite a comfy bed though." With a smug grin and reddened cheeks, Jihl hummed as she hurried inside and looked around for any fluids... "Urgh." She repulsed at the thought of standing in, something. Waving as the doors closed she started humming to herself.

Having studied with Fang and Lightning for years at the same time in the academy, she had grown accustomed to watching those to kiss and cuddle and be childish around their dorm living room, it had been a welcomed break from the relentless onslaught of studying required to take the role of captain. Although the three o'clock in the morning arrivals of them being lovey-dovey and standing in the door was a nuisance. Oh, and the times they came back drunk and made themselves comfortable on the couch. With a long drawn out sigh Jihl was starting to remember why she pushed Lightning and Fang to get a place of their own.

Fang was spinning a cigarette in her fingers as Lightning came out. "Hey want one?" She leaned forward and held it out for her. Lightning considered taking the brunette up on her offer, cigarette's and good quality ones like the ones the chairman had given her sold for hundreds of dollars a pack.

"Maybe later."

"Oooh." Fang cooed as she tucked it back into the packet in her other hand. "Quitting are we?" In a big arch, she brought her legs to one side and scooched up to the seat, giving Lighting room to climb on.

"No. They're unfortunately the only stress relief I've got at the moment." Lightning said as she sat behind Fang. Her skin was still the slightly dark shade that was from tanning under an actual sun, unlike Cocoon's manmade sun. Lightning had grown accustomed to pressing herself against it back in the academy dorms. Looking up without thinking Lightning regretted it as the blinding light connected with her eyes. It was easy to forget the little things like that. How the entirety of Cocoon's eco-system was manufactured and made to withstand the burden of overpopulation and pollution.

The sound of the motorbike starting up brought her attention back down to earth. Fang was holding a helmet for Lightning in one hand and her cigarette in the other.

In a quick motion, she tied her hair into a bun and pulled the helmet over it. "Shall we?"

Fang gave her a wink and tossed her cigarette under her boot. Putting the bike into gear Fang began driving.

"So where are we going?"

Fang glanced back as she pulled to a stop at the exit of the police parking lot. "Cafe Eden."

Cafe Eden. It was something right out of a cheesy action movie. Lightning kept her eyes on Fang as they walked passed a few burly customers chatting with each other or reading the morning paper. Their eyes cast towards the police officers as the doorbell rang.

From behind the counter, a much smaller and more welcoming man smiled. In a cheery upbeat tone, he greeted them. "Good morning ladies. It is a pleasure to have you."

Fang slapped the folder of photos on the counter and pointed to some of the faces. "We would like to ask you a couple of questions about the people in these photos."

The man stepped out and wiped his hands on his apron. "Shall we take a booth." He walked to a booth near a window and sat down, Fang and Lightning followed after him and looked around. Lightning stopped and looked to Fang who grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the counter. Leaning over she whispered quietly in her ear. "Lightning, I want you to check the rooftops."

Lightning looked at her and nodded. "Expecting trouble?"

"These guys are supposed to be the import hub for any and all freedom soldiers so I wouldn't put it past them."

"You gonna be fine in here?" Lightning looked over to the waiter who fidgeted and looked over at them and smiled. "Alright well be careful."

"Will do." Fang winked and walked over to the booth and sat down.

The door closed behind Lightning as she hurried across the street. The eyes watching her were unsettling. As she entered the alley she looked over her shoulder for any followers. As she rounded the first corner towards the rear entrance the sound of clanging bins caught her attention. "Jeez... You'd think these guys would at least get basic training." Lightning hurried through a back door and into a busy restaurant, her presence barely gaining the attention of the busy cooks as she darted through and out onto the floor. Her followers, however, lacked such finesse and ended up colliding with one of the cooks, who then proceeded to yell as loud as he could and make threats with a very, very large knife.

Carefully she pushed out the front doors and around the building to the fire escape for the building next door. The fire exit, of course, was as well maintained as well... No matter. Lightning quickly stretched her legs before getting a run-up. After a quick sprint Lightning ran up the bins and onto the wall before leaping across and grabbing onto the railing with a loud clang.

"HEY! Goddamit!" The lackey threw his hands in the air and turned to his partner who was covered in soup.

Lightning looked down and grinned. The man waved and grabbed a radio catching Lightning's attention. Hurrying as fast as she could up the stairs, she cleared the staircase and threw herself to the ground, sliding across the rough surface she scuffed up the knees on her pants.

Her attacker a French man by the accent tipped his hat and took a drag of his cigarette. "Ey that was pretty good mademoiselle. Not many can dodge my blade." The French man turned to his comrades who raced up the stairs their guns at the ready. "Thank you monsieurs. I shall take it from here." He gestured for them to go before taking another drag of his cigarette. They shared a glance the two men nodded and holstered their firearms. "Très bien monsieur. Radio quand vous avez terminé."

"Garde une bouteille pour moi." Turning back around, the French threw his cigarette on the ground and pulled out his pistol. "That's a pretty lady down there. But know that I am fighting for a pretty lady too. Oui France is a beautiful woman worth dying for..."

Lightning got to her feet and drew her gun, clicking the safety off while keeping her eyes on the sniper. She had to finish this up quick yet she would prefer to injure the guy than kill. Going off the rather hazardous amount of cigarettes and the large calibre rifle perched on the ledge overlooking the cafe, he was probably the bad guy.

Lightning dropped the magazine from her gun and kicked it at the French man who threw his arms to block it. Quickly he threw his gun up and scanned for Lighting, leaping back in reaction he let off a few rounds, the bullets scraping across Lightning's arms leaving trails of blood underneath the tattered fabric. Darting forward she danced around the bullets, tucking her body in close she jabbed forward with her knife, coming close to piercing the sniper's stomach. With the last of her momentum, she deflected his gun from her face and towards the sky. With a loud bang, it went off and shattered a window. Just for a moment, Lightning thought she heard, her mind glancing over for a fragment of a second. When she turned back she closed her eyes, the French man connected his boot square with her face, sending her back.

From his ear, he grabbed another cigarette and brought it down to his mouth. In one hand he held his gun and the other a lighter. Lightning's gun, which she had dropped in the scramble crunched under his boots.

"What a shame Cherie. Well, I guess that's how it is. Anything you want to say to your friend?"

Lightning tensed up as a dozen or so gunshots when off from behind the French man. His chest turning red as he dropped to his knees and collapsed.

Fang breathed heavily, she had blood on her but no visible wounds. Her gun was still smoking as she looked to Lightning. "Claire!" Fang rushed over and dropped her gun, looking over Lightning quickly. "Did he get you anywhere?" Fang had to stop herself from tearing the woman's clothes off to check and looked over at the assassin who was definitely dead.

"No, I'm, fine." Lightning grunted as she stepped up, the scrapes on her arms weren't the only places the bullets had gotten her. "Going to have a hell of a bruise tomorrow though."

"Heck yeah. Bruises are great though, women love 'em. Now let's get you up." Fang pulled Lightning over her shoulders Fang moved towards the fire escape, her radio buzzing on her belt. Grabbing it she looked over the ledge before starting down the stairs, in case any more soldiers joined the two she had incapacitated. "Yun here."

"Yun hows officer Farron?"

"She took a blow to her vest." Fang quickly tucked the radio back in its pouch and grabbed her handgun from the front of her pants and aimed it at the corner of the alley.

Relief washed over her as a Cid Raines, one of the other operatives rushed around the corner and waved. "Yun it's all clear."

"Right wanna catch this one?" Fang moved to the edge and waited for Raines to come over.

He grunted and nearly dropped Lightning before helping her back to her feet. "Heavier than you'd think."

Fang dropped down and grabbed Raines gun from him. "Hey, hows the package?"

"The cafe? We've got it locked down and everyone detained." Raines walked beside Fang who hurried up ahead and to the street. A few officers looked her up down with concern before she flashed her badge. A woman in a hoodie carrying a sub-machine gun was a very concerning sight for most police officers.

Helping Lightning to one the cars Raines looked inside and pulled a first aid kit. "Now miss... Lightning?"

"Farron, officer Farron." Lightning looked at Raines, he was different from when she was staring at the ground. He glanced over to Fang who was bossing their way past officers and into the cafe. Shaking his head he opened the box and looked through it. "So just some scrapes?"

"I think so." Lightning pulled her sleeves up and showed the grazes on her arms.

Raines smiled and nodded. "Impressive. It's not every day you see someone dodging bullets at close range. No wonder Yun talks about you a lot."

"Really?" Lightning grabbed the anti-septic bandages from Raines and wrapped her arms.

"Yeah like annoyingly so. But you know it's a good break from the others. Makes me wish I hadn't put up my uniform sometimes." Raines looked over to the cafe and then back to Lightning. "Hey, do you mind?"

Lightning shook her head and reached into her pocket for her cigarette's. "Not at all."

Fang had taken off her Hoodie and was towering over the waiter in her not so white t-shirt. Her hand was as much coated in blood as her shoes. "Pierre for god sake, talk you stubborn son of a-"

The door opened, catching her attention as Raines walked in.

"How's he going?"

Fang groaned and looked at the waiter on the floor. "You know this usually works. Wanna give it a shot Raines?"

"Done. Pierre, one second." Raines pulled out his phone and dialled a number. "Hey, Rosch you there yet? Okay, put them on." Raines reached down and placed the phone in front of him. On the screen, a woman and child shouted out before another man picked it up. "Pierre. We know the Freedom Liberation has been prodding around arks. Why?"

Raines paced around in silence for a second. "We're fighting for the same thing you know. I too have a wife and child, he'll be five years old next January Pierre. You have a daughter right? Rosch, what's Pierre's daughter's name?"

"Amanda, sir."

"You know it'd be a shame if this Christmas, Amanda and Rebecca had to spend it alone or maybe they won't get a Christmas at all. So Pierre why are the Freedom Liberation touching the arks?" Raines placed the phone down again.

Pierre looked at the phone and his wife, clutching their four-year-old daughter in her arms. "Revenge. We want revenge for the stone sickness. Give us a cure dammit!"

Raines looked at him and shook his head. "There is no cure. Everybody knows that. Are they planning on using the arks against Pulse? What arks have you touched?"

"I don't know." Pierre looked at him and gritted his teeth. The woman who had beaten him earlier was sitting back, wiping the blood off of her hands."

"Rosch."

Pierre's gut dropped as the sound of a gun cocking came through the phone. "God. What the hell is wrong with you people?!"

Fang and Raines both stared at him. Fang stood up and walked over. "Stone sickness isn't what the arks are for. You people know nothing."

"Because you tell us nothing!"

Fang turned to hit him and stopped as Raines held out his hand. "You want to know that the arks do? You think they just turn you to stone? We ventured into those arks to save our humanity, ironic we came out nothing but monsters. Now, who leads the Freedom?"

"Alright, Rosch let's see let's go with a finger from the..." Raines looked over to Fang who pulled out a coin and tossed it.

"Heads. The wife."

Raines sat the phone down in front of Pierre so he could see Rosch holding Rebecca's hand down on the table.

"10, 9, 8 -"

"Stop. I don't know!" Pierre looked at the phone in horror and bit his lip.

"Then give us a name. 6, 5-"

Pierre looked away from the screen before Fang grabbed him from behind and pressed his face in the screen. "Pierre... A name or her fingers."

"4, 3, Pierre we're at 2 now. One. Ro-"

"Golden Gardens!" Pierre's face crumbled as he was forced to watch his wife sobbing on the screen. "The Golden Gardens Club."

Raines grabbed his radio.

"Captain Nabaat. Golden Gardens Club. Yes Ma'am." Raines put the radio down and turned to Pierre. "Alright, Pierre. Good work you now let's continue... The next one please Pierre. 10, 9, -"

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 **A/N - I don't speak French so I'M SO SORRY to anyone who speaks actual french and was deeply scarred by my attempt at it so if you know what it's supposed to be then just pm and lemme know. Regarding the massive break, I kinda fell out of writing with things IRL. But I'm getting really into writing lately and wanted to get this finished up. So I hope you enjoyed. TAT**


	3. Chapter 3

Brass and Lightning Chapter 3

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 **A/N- Hello everyone I'm back with another chapter of Brass and Lightning, I hope you all enjoy. Unlike Wings I'm trying to make Brass and Lightning more plot orientated and so the next chapter is going to be entirely Jihl/Fang/Ark backstory taking place before Lightning arrived. Unfortunately this chapter took me a week to edit and even longer to write, thanks to my bad habit of scribbling down ideas for stories everywhere. Ooh and for anyone interested I'm going to start up Wings again and should hopefully have a new chapter up soonish, writing this has definitely made me appreciate the short story random spoofs thing a lot more.**

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Lightning settled back in the bath Jihl had forced her into. She had never been a bath person, the idea of laying in a pool of water for an hour was just something Lightning had never been able to afford the time to appreciate it when she was back on Cocoon, her hands were full with juggling her part-time work and her studies at the academy. Lightning softly moaned as she sunk down a little further, the water rising up to her chin. According to Jihl the water apparently had some special minerals or healing powder that she had thrown in it that would help with Lightning's wounds but just the warmth lapping at her skin was enough to nearly put her to sleep.

Forcing her eyes open Lightning pulled herself up to the edge of the bath sending small waves across the surface as she looked around, "Still in the bath, crap." Lightning mumbled to herself as she reached over and grabbed her phone off of the bundle of clean clothes she set out. Lightning sighed in relief as she looked at the time, she hadn't slept for long at all, just ten minutes or so. Setting it back down she ran her hands through her hair and wiggled a little, getting comfortable as she surprisingly had a bit of time. Taking a deep breath she looked at the reflection of herself in the mirror that sat at the other end of the bath, mounted to the wall. Damn it had scared her the first time she had moved in with Jihl. Jihl had taken it upon herself to throw a moving in party for Lightning and herself, apparently, the blonde had a thing for Japanese horror films and unfortunately the one she chose involved both baths and mirrors. Lightning hadn't been able to take a bath at the apartment for a week instead used the shower rooms at the station. The first time she came in and saw the reflection of herself, her heart had nearly jumped out of her body.

A smirk tugged at the woman's lips as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin despite living on Pulse was still as pale as it had been when she left Cocoon even though she running around as a police officer even though at times it was pretty to forgot that she was with all the damn paperwork she had to do. A shudder travelled down her spine in horror as she remembered the station actually having employed paper pushers.

"Poor guys." She whispered to herself as her fingers traced across the surface of the water, sending ripples clashing against her stomach, it was weird, the feelings of fingers gently pressing against her skin even if they were her own, each movement carrying a flood of memories with them as her mind drifted uncontrollably towards Fang. Lightning stopped and looked at her phone again, noticing the time. "8:45. Guess I should get ready." Lightning mumbled to herself before she stood up and began to towel herself off. Looking to the outfit she prepared she rolled her eyes and began changing.

Peeking out in the lounge room she was relieved to see that Jihl had already gone, a note on the bench signalling Jihl's departure. Lightning crossed the room to the note in the short black dress that stopped just above her knees and warily looked at the note.

'Hey Lightning just chill and have fun okay!

Netflix password is 'Jihlforpresident'

o

P.S we have neighbours so keep it down alright.

Thanks girl, your homey J'

"Really Jihl." Lightning laughed as she read the letter and sat it back down. Looking around the room she began to notice a few other touches Jihl had added. She cleared the coffee table and set clean plates out as well as two wine glasses and a bottle of wine to go with them. In the middle of the converted coffee table was an electric candle that cast soft light across the room. It was a bit much, then again giving her outfit another look over Lightning huffed, cursing herself for whatever the hell she was thinking when she chose it. Dim lighting, a short black cocktail dress, wine glasses.

Another sigh escaped her as Lightning lumbered over to the couch, gently sitting her phone down and looking at it again. '8:52.' Fang had told her she'd be around tonight which from Lightning's past experiences with the woman could mean whenever.

Lightning had been promised an explanation for everything Fang had put her through and one way or another she was going to get it. The question that kept stirring inside of her however, was whether or not Lightning could forgive Fang. Curling up into a ball on the couch Lightning wrapped her arms around her knees and laid against the armrest, forcing her eyes shut. She was being torn apart between either forgiving Fang and going back to what they were if that was even possible or just letting her go. One side of Lightning wanted to believe Fang and just hold as tightly as she could yet that was also the side that donned short cocktail dresses and dwelled on the times Fang would walk around her apartment topless or gave her flowers and breakfast in the morning when she woke up. The other side however had been left out in the cold to shrivel up and die. Yes, Lightning painfully had to admit Fang was the only person who made her feel safe and also the only person not to get a broken nose for pushing Lightning's boundaries.

Lightning had only hoped for anything these past years and now that Fang was resting in her hands she was afraid of getting close, just in case the woman disappeared again. Lightning groaned as she laid back and stared as mindlessly at the wall as she could manage, feelings were more of Serah's area of expertise and right now she just wanted to stab them, it was a shame Lightning couldn't just stab Fang as well. Lightning pondered the thought, it would solve all her problems although the better part of her pushed it aside. "Damn they're rubbing off on me." Lightning fought a grin that threatened to spill across her face and instead groaned as she stretched her legs across the couch. She had changed a lot since she came to Pulse, more than Lightning would like to think.

"Goddamit Fang... you asshole." Lightning mumbled and turned her head towards the ever quiet door. She fought the urge to reach out and grab her phone again, it would likely just make things go somehow slower than the snail's pace it was already at.

Now that she thought about it Lightning hadn't even considered the fact that Fang might just not show up at all. It wasn't the first time the Pulsian had been caught up in work or just forgotten about Lightning, Lightning was hoping for the latter. Her lips frowned at the thought, abandoned, twice. She buried her face into the cushion at the end of the couch the idea of spending the night alone again, leaning over she poured herself a glass of wine and slumped back on the couch. "If Fang isn't having any then I might as well." Lightning took another sip and grabbed her phone just in case Fang had actually sent her text or something, which was not happening tonight. Lightning sat the glass of wine down and scrolled through her phone, nothing better to do while she waited and she'd prefer there to be something for Fang to drink, or just some weight to the bottle if Fang ever arrived.

A sudden knock at the door pulled Lightning's attention away from her second half empty glass. It had better be Fang at this time at night, unless and very unlikely Jihl forgot something when she headed out earlier. Setting her phone down on the table Lightning checked herself out in the reflection of the screen before she hurried over to the door as fast as she could and pulled the door open. "Flowers!" Lightning looked up and winced, her face falling back into a thrown. Just not the person she hoped to see holding them. "Oh. Flowers?" Lightning tried her best not to sound as disappointed as she was.

The delivery guy nodded despite noticing her reaction, he smiled at her followed by a charming grin, "Yep. You are miss Lightning right? The sender told us that was the name to call you. The flowers are from Captain Nabaat. If you could sign here please." He held out an electronic pad for her to write on.

Taking the flowers in one hand Lightning scribbled a messy attempt at her signature with the other. "Thank you."

"Alright well have a good night ma'am." The delivery guy tipped his hat and tucked the pad away before hurrying off leaving Lightning more upset than before as she closed the door. Trust Jihl to swoop in last minute with the rescue. Lightning shook her head as she put the flowers in a vase on the kitchen counter. Sitting back down on the arm of the couch she let out a long sigh as she reached over and grabbed her phone to start looking for Fang's number. The dial tone rang for a minute before the automated message played.

"The number you have dialled has been switched off."

"Right probably just ran out of battery." Lightning assured herself as she hung up and called Jihl instead.

"Hey Lightning, uhh one second." Lightning could hear the clamour from Jihl's side easily. Jihl sat down her mug and pushed her chair out, her colleagues watching the captain hurry outside where the noise was less deafening. "Sorry, what's going on? Anything interesting happen while I'm not there?" Jihl shut the door behind her and slowly walked over to the railing, leaning against it as she reached into her pocket and grabbed one of the expensive cigarettes out.

"Fang's not here yet. I was wondering if you know anything about it?" Lightning leant back and looked at the clock behind her. '9:31'.

"Mmm not that I know of. Freedom's activity dropped after the last week hence the reason we all have some free time. I'll keep an ear out for you though if you want."

"Yeah umm Jihl, do you mind if I..." Lightning looked up at the door and winced. "Mind If I join you?"

"Sure, umm we're at the Turtle Kame Bar. Do you know how to get here?"

"Yeah. I'll just clean up and see you in a bit. Thank you, Jihl" Lightning hung up and tossed her phone on the cushions. She reached over and grabbed the remained of her glass, quickly chugging down the rest of the glass before she headed to her bedroom. Closing the door Lightning fell onto on her bed and stared at the ceiling. "Dammit Fang, where are you?"

Lightning pressed her bank card against the machine on her side that made up a part of the passenger side dash, it changed to green as the funds cleared. "Thank you." Stuffing her card back into her wallet she stepped out.

Despite the late hour, the Turtle Kame bar was still bursting to life, with people hurrying through the doors. Lightning looked up to the giant neon turtle mascot that hung above the entrance with the bar's name 'Turtle Kame' wrapped inside the shell. As she made her way to the door two large men wearing 'security' shirts stepped in front of her, looking her up and down before relaxing a little.

"Cocconian huh? Can I see some ID?"

"Mark come on, she's not a kid." The guy on the left said to his partner

Mark rolled his eyes and responded. "Dan remember whose inside right now. I'm not racist but I'd rather be sure in case Freedom decides to retaliate or something, I dunno"

Lightning held out her police badge to the bouncer. "Will this do?"

Mark looked at it and nodded. "Alright, sorry about that. Head right in. Oh and tell the bartender you're a cop, cops get a free drink tonight."

"Alright, thanks." Lightning shoved her badge back in her pocket and hurried inside. Glancing around as she navigated the crowds, she recognised a few of the officers sitting around the tables.

"Lightning! Is that you! It's been ages." A woman shouted at Lightning and pushed her way through the crowd.

Lightning turned around and looked at the woman, stunned.

"Gainsborough, I never thought I'd see you here." Lightning said as Aerith approached her and pulled her into a hug. "Still clingy I see."

"Come on we were partners for three years!" Aerith threw her arms in front of her and shook her head, the nerve of this woman, she scowled at Lightning who stared at her. "I know you know my name, Claire..." Aerith poked Lightning and walked with her to the bar.

"Sorry. Aerith, I'm glad to see you back on your feet. I'm just still sorry for what happened." Lightning pulled the stool out and sat down beside Aerith.

Aerith shook her head and waved to the bartender who waved back. "Just a moment Aerith." The bartender called out and looked back to the two police officers chatting with her as she filled up the jugs they ordered.

"Lightning don't worry about it, you were still pretty bad-ass when you put that guy head first into the ground, damn that was a cool suplex."

"But I shot you..." Lightning mumbled to Aerith who looked fine considering Lightning had put a bullet through her chest, a criminal had grabbed her during a robbery that Aerith and Lightning had responded to.

Aerith leant over and gave the bartender a kiss on the cheek as she walked over. "Tifa, how's it going?" Aerith looked at Lightning and smiled.

"Good whose your lady friend, should I be jealous?" Tifa bit her lip and looked at Lightning, definitely not Aerith's type. "What can I get you girls?"

"Two beers?" Aerith looked to Lightning who shrugged, from the expression on her face Lightning likely had no idea what most of the drinks on tap where. "No way, is this her?" Tifa leant against the counter and stared at Lightning.

"It is. Tifa this is Lightning, my old partner back on Cocoon, who also saved my butt. Lightning you may have shot me but you also shot the guy behind me so here, to us from Cocoon. We'll be cleaning up Gran Pulse's mess till we die."

Lightning took the glass and clinked it against Aerith's, trying her hardest to resist the smile that crept up on her, her old partner's happiness was becoming infectious, that or Lightning was just getting soft. Sipping the whiskey she coughed and looked at Aerith. "I thought you said beer."

"Eh." Aerith shrugged and drank her glass down like water.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Tifa" Lightning extended her hand to the woman who happily shook it and gave her a charming smile in return.

"Same here and I gotta go. God I hate drunks" Tifa rolled her eyes and mumbled, hurrying down to the other end of the bar to a customer who was getting impatient with his empty glass, from the yelling that ensued and from the security that quickly arrived as a few of his drunken swings came close to hitting another patron, it was his last one of the night.

"So Aerith how have you been?"

Aerith sat her glass down and looked over. "Good actually, ever since I got cleared for duty again I was relaxing back in Bodhum. For a while at least until well you know all that freedom stuff started up and I got worried about Tifa being here all alone." Aerith looked over her shoulder at Tifa who was pouring beer and talking to a pair of older gentleman. "So I applied for a transfer. Turns out with all that freedom crap they wanted more officers here on Pulse anyway so I got it approved right away. Lightning... You there?" Aerith looked at pinkette. "Pulse to Lighting?"

"Hmm sorry I was just, thinking of old times. What did you say?"

Aerith chuckled and gently shoved her. "Still don't listen to me I see. But what brings you of all people to a bar?"

"I'm here meeting someone actually." Lightning scanned the crowd for the blonde she was meeting and looked back to Aerith. "Actually do you know where Jihl Nabaat is?"

Aerith coughed on her drink, rubbing her chest she looked at Lightning with her eyes wide in shock. "You're seeing the Nabaat?

"What! No, I just live with her."

Aerith stared at Lightning. "You live with Nabaat! What's that even like? Are there guns in the walls, does she have her own gym, ooh does she have a pug?"

"Aerith stop, please. I don't really know, I've never been inside her room but I'm just getting some drinks with her. Fang ditched me, again." Lightning looked to Tifa who returned and grabbed a glass and poured herself a coke. "God I hate drunk assholes." Tifa mumbled again.

"Come on babe, it can't be that bad. Plus if you hated drunk assholes why'd you get into bartending anyway." Aerith grinned at Tifa who huffed.

"Well there was this cute girl I really liked and then I bumped into you and spilt beer all over you and in that moment I thought eehh she's pretty cute too." Tifa teased as she took a sip of her drink.

"Hey! You're sleeping on the couch tonight you little devil." Aerith turned away and pouted, leaving Lightning to smile at the situation, these two were nearly as bad as Serah and Vanille. "Tifa can I get a beer please, do you have coronas by any chance?"

Tifa nodded and turned around to the fridge for the off tap drinks. Grabbing a bottle out she placed it on the bench and popped the cap off. "Good to finally sell one of these. Lightning, thanks for keeping her safe."

"Don't forget I was the one that shot her." Lightning looked to Aerith again who pouted in response.

"Well you know Tifa, no matter what Lightning may tell you but I, I was always the better shot." Aerith smirked and took a sip of her drink as Lightning rolled her eyes."

"Right... Nice to meet you Tifa, I'll have to come back sometime." Lightning shook Tifa's hand again.

"Right well I'll keep a corona cold for you." Tifa leant back, her eyes scanning across the bar and to the assistant she hired last week. "What is that girl doing..." Tifa watched her a moment before setting her drink down and hurrying off, if it wasn't drunks it was rookies.

Before Lightning could leave Aerith dove at her, nearly sending Lightning and her drink toppling as Aerith pulled her into a hug. "Don't be a stranger this time, got it?" Aerith squeezed her tight and smiled.

"Got it. I'll see you later Aerith." Lightning grabbed her drink. "Oh yeah...

Aerith sat back down and grabbed her drink. "Second floor."

"Thanks." Lightning off hurried into the crowd.

Lightning hurried up towards the second floor, stopping at the door when another set of the two bouncers standing in front of the doorway. These two however were wearing body armour over their shirts and pistols on their hips. Carefully they both glared as Lightning as she approached.

"Ma'am I need to see your badge please." The bouncer on the left kept his hand near his gun as he outstretched the other, his eyes locked on Lightning's.

Lightning reached into her pocket slowly and pulled it out for the guard to see. He took a moment as he looked at it before he shook his head. "Sorry, the second floor is reserved for GP officers only tonight." He handed it back to her.

"Right I know. Jihl Nabaat, she invited me out tonight." Lightning said keeping her eyes locked with his, the last thing she needed was him getting suspicious for no reason.

The guard let out a tense sigh and nodded. "Yeah alright. Let me guess you're the high commander of the Pulsian army. Sorry but unless she comes down and says you can go up we just can't let you through."

"Well, then it's a good thing that I'm here." A familiar voice called out from behind the guards, catching their attention as Raines hurried down the steps with his right arm hanging free from the jacket he wore. "She is indeed a friend of Captain Nabaat and officer Yun to add that." He looked at the guard who gulped, tensing up at the mention of Jihl and Fang.

"Sorry sir, I didn't know."

Raines looked at him and shook his head. "Don't worry you're doing your job and a good one at that. After all the interpersonal relations of our members is hard enough for us to keep track of let alone you, no offence. Anyway, keep at it, after all our safety is in your hand's men. Lightning shall we go up?"

"Yes sir, have a goodnight Ma'am" The two guards saluted and parted, letting Lightning through.

"Thank you Raines." Lightning nodded in thanks as she walked beside him up the stairs and to the second floor, it was surprisingly quieter as they approached the tables where a dozen or so people were gathered around a long rectangle table. They looked up to see Raines returning with Lightning in tow.

Most of them who worked with Fang knew something about the woman, Lightning, however, was clueless to most of the people were except for Jihl and Raines who she had only met yesterday. Not surprising considering the members of the GP were supposed to be undercover operatives.

Jihl stood up and walked over, unexpectedly she grabbed Lightning and hugged her. "Happy new year Lightning. Come sit and hang out with us, we're not all monsters." Jihl tugged Lightning's hand and pulled back to her seat, pulling out a chair beside hers.

Lightning sat down and looked around the table. "You too Jihl. So you guys are all apart of the GP?"

A tall Pulsian man with spiky black hair and a dark blue turtleneck leant back into his chair. He took a sip of his beer and looked over to Lightning. "Yeah, it's the first time in months that we can actually relax and see everyone again. Oh, I'm Zack by the way."

Jihl stood up and looked around, nearly everyone was here. Grabbing her glass she raised it above her head, wobbling as she looked around to those at the table. "Friends, colleagues and some of the worst people I have the great pleasure of knowing. It has been a full year since the incident that claimed the lives of so many and now we are dealing with the enemy from every side. Yet despite that, you've all just done extraordinary and I wouldn't have had it any other way. So let's not forgot to look back at those we've lost as we forge the future." Everyone stood up and clinked their glasses together.

Jihl chugged her drink and slammed her empty her mug on the table, quickly followed by everyone else who proceeded to sit and pour themselves another glass.

"Sorry you had to sit through that, cheesy mess, it's a tradition that is upheld every year." Jihl grabbed herself another beer and sat back as chatter filled the room.

"So have you heard anything from Fang?" Lightning looked over at the blonde who shook her head in response.

Jihl leant over, trying to conceal the frown on her face. "Something is up, she's never missed the end of year celebration before."

"Hmm?" Lightning looked down into her pocket where her phone was vibrating. Somewhat reluctantly she reached down and grabbed her phone, sure enough Fang was the caller ID. "Jihl I'm going take a call. It's Fang."

The blonde nodded, adjusting her glasses as she watched Lightning hurry out to the balcony before turning back to someone who was trying to get her attention.

"Fang... Where were you tonight?" Lightning sat her beer on the balcony railing and looked out over the crowded street, couples were holding hands as they strolled along.

"Lightning I'm so sorry I got stuck with something, it was work related."

"Right, what would that be?" Lightning's was fought back the urge just hang up, not the first time she had heard that.

"So you know that guy we got when we went to the cafe, Pierre whatever the hell his name was. Well, tonight I just so happened to take a cab by there and there were a dozen or cop cars out front. He was killed... badly." Fang didn't want to share the fact that the cops had found Pierre nailed to the wall in a giant occult looking symbol painted with his own blood. She fought back the urge to puke and took a deep breath. "Where are you now?"

"I'm at the Turtle Kame." Lightning's feelings were pushed aside as the gravity of the situation weighed upon her. Freedom had killed one of their own guys for snitching.

"Right I'll be there in ten. Jihl's there right?" Fang waved to the officers at the scene as she hurried to her bike, turning the ignition over and grabbing her helmet with her free hand.

"Yep. The GP is having their yearly celebration or something."

"Alright cool, well could you tell her to check the news. I'll see you soon. And Light..."

"Yeah." Lightning stopped as she turned to head back inside.

"Sorry about tonight, I really, really wanted to see that dress of yours." Fang bit her lip and groaned internally, she had given a good thought about leaving the situation to the police when she first arrived. Then again hanging out with your ex-girlfriend isn't the best excuse to give to your commanding officer as to why there was no one on the scene.

"Next time okay." Lightning said with a faint smile on her face.

"Ooh, I've got a next time already? Didn't even have to work my charm." Fang teased with a grinned. "I won't bloody miss it Sunshine. See you soon." Fang hung up and shoved her phone into the pocket in her jeans before she pulled her helmet over her mess of black hair.

Lightning hurried back in, forgetting to grab her bottle as she pushed the door open and walked as fast as she could back to Jihl. "Jihl that was Fang, she said to check the news. It sounded urgent." Everyone looked up at Lightning, the clamour immediately stopping all eyes were drawn to her.

"Okay, Natasha find out what's going on." Jihl grabbed her phone out and flipped it open while Natasha, a brunette from Cocoon judging from her pale skin pulled out a black laptop bag.

The news app chimed as it loaded on Jihl's phone and she looked at feed on the front page, the other members had done the same.

"Hello everyone this is Cassandra Clark reporting for Pulse News One. Just hours ago police found the corpse of Pierre Dulain and his family murdered in their home. There is still speculation about why Mr. Dulain and his family were murdered but given his known involvement with the Freedom Liberation Group and his part in the recent sieges that saw the arrest of over seventy confirmed members across twelve establishments here in Pulse City. An investigation is yet to be launched by the Police force who are still refusing to release any information on the crime. Lastly, folks, we at Pulse News One remind everyone to stay inside and avoid contact with any suspicious persons. This is Cassandra Clark wishing you all a happy new year."

The video stopped and Jihl dropped her phone on the table. "Natasha, how's it looking?"

The girl pursed her lips and looked up from the screen. "Ma'am I'm not getting anything, Freedom has gone silent other than that little outburst and there's nothing from the police or military yet."

Fang pushed through the doors with a loud bang, causing everyone to jump as the woman strode over to Jihl. "Nabaat sorry I'm late." Fang rummaged through her jacket and handed Jihl an envelope. "Here It's for you, they left it the crime scene."

Jihl tore the letter open and read it as quickly as she could, her eyebrows furrowed as she scanned its contents. Holding the letter up Jihl read it aloud to the others.

"Dear Captain of the GP.

We'd like to inform you that we shall no longer be operating in your city. Instead, we have decided to turn our efforts elsewhere. Thank you for your time but you are unfit for ascension, only those with pure blood and unwavering faith may see evolution in the golden city.

However fret not, the angels shall sweep across your nation in a cleansing fire removing your polluted blood from this world. May you rest peacefully amongst the blood and bones of your ancestors."

"Fang take Lightning home. I'm going to inform the captain, everyone else we have a code white. Report for briefing at 09:00."

"Yes Ma'am." Everyone saluted and scrambled to their orders, grabbing their things and hurrying out of the room, leaving the table covered with half-filled mugs. Jihl folded the letter up and stuffed it into her bag before giving Lightning a hug. "It was good seeing you again Lightning oh and a happy new year!"

Jihl hurried off, the quiet sound of the Prius's electric motor starting before it sped off.

"Alright let's get you home." Fang said as she and Lightning finally began towards the exit, the group's sudden leave had caught the attention of the patrons downstairs who watched as Lightning and Fang made their way across the room. Lightning could feel Aerith and Tifa watching her from the bar yet she resisted the urge to look over, the last thing she wanted was to get caught. Fang, however, was completely oblivious to it as she and Lightning hurried out to her bike.

"Here." Fang held out her helmet for Lightning. "I've only got the one and I'd rather you have it."

Lightning took it and pulled it on, it fit pretty snugly, earning a smile from Fang who put her leg over the bike and turned it on. "Don't worry nothing's getting through this thick head of mine." Fang grinned as she shifted and got comfortable. "Well come on, I've got a dinner to make up for don't I Sunshine?"

Lightning shook her head and climbed on back, putting her arms around Fang's waist. Lightning closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of her hands around Fang's stomach, if the Pulsian had said anything during their ride back Lightning had no idea what it was. Her mind was dwelling on the fact that everyone had scrambled due to that letter, it annoyed her that she had no idea what it was about. Angels, faith and cleansing fire, sounded like some crazy doomsday cult to her. The brakes on the bike slowed her mind down with it bringing her focus back to the woman sitting in front of her as Fang parked her bike next to Lightning's.

Fang kicked the stand down and waited for Lightning to disembark.

"Hey Lightning about the whole code white thing and the GP, don't worry about it. It's probably just Freedom trying to scare us, like serious could you imagine angels flying around and throwing fireballs at people, sounds like something from a stupid video game to me." Fang said as she pulled the key out of the ignition and walked behind Lightning.

"Yeah. But do you think that Freedom could actually be a group of crazy cultists?" Lighting looked to Fang as she stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to her floor, the elevator chimed before the doors slowly closed.

"Nope, I have yet to see any pentagram demon rituals so as far as I know they're just a bunch of idiots trying to fight fire with fire for crap we didn't even do. We both know first hand how bad the war was on both sides and it's not like Pulse is playing any divine hero cards or anything, we screwed up big time after all." Fang bit her lip and stared at the fuzzy reflection of herself. Seeing her get so serious about something made the hairs stand up on the back of Lightning's neck.

"You mean the arks?" Lightning crossed her arms and looked away from Fang's expression.

Fang tucked her hands into her pockets and nodded. "Yeah, the arks... Worst mistake we made during the war. I really wanna punch the bloody idiot who approved them." She let out a deep sigh and gritted her teeth. "There's a point you just don't cross and now we're the ones stuck with wiping their backsides."

Lightning chuckled, it was rare that Fang actually talked about something with such seriousness. "Well you know we created atomic bombs and killed billions of our own people. So it's not like Cocoon is any better. Plus you know there's a lot of us from Cocoon cleaning up your mess too you know. Serah, Jihl and myself included"

"Yeah well just maybe humanity are all a bunch of dumb idiots. So Claire, this dress of yours..." Fang looked over and smiled, this evening mightn't be so bad after all.

"Fang, wait and you'll see it."

Lightning turned the key and pushed open the door to her apartment, it was still empty thankfully. Jihl was most definitely preparing to deal with Freedom and whatever they had planned so she had the apartment to herself all night. Fang followed in behind her, shutting the door as Lightning turned the music on, soft jazz sounding throughout the apartment which earned a snicker from the Pulsian.

With a smug look on her face and the urge to spout out something stupid Fang made her way to the couch and sat down, placing her bag on the floor. She sighed as she caved in. "You know Lightning, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to seduce me." Fang looked at Lightning who approached her with grin.

"You left me alone for years Fang..." Lightning cooed and slowly walked over to the couch and sat beside the Pulsian, the urge to deck the woman slowly settling. Leaning over Lightning traced her fingers along Fang's jaw, feeling their way up to the woman's ears. Fang gave her a quizzical look, Lightning was just being plain weird, and Fang didn't remember the woman to be so touchy-feely. "Lightning what are you doing?" Fang managed to speak as she laughed, she had expected sexy time, not whatever the hell Lightning was doing. Lightning went from prodding Fang's face to pulling on her ears. "How much have you had to drink, hey."

Lightning puffed up her face and frowned. "I'm taking a page out of your book and doing what I want." Lightning pulled Fang close and pressed her lips against Fang's, Fang fell back into the cushions behind her helplessly as Lightning pushed her down.

"First off I don't just do what I want, I have a ton of paperwork whenever I open my mouth so..."

Lightning pressed her hands against Fang's chest as she leant down. "I can help with that just... just..." Lightning scrunched up her face and looked away, trying to hide the tears that spilt down her cheeks. Fang pulled her down, her hands gently wrapped around Lightning's back as tears stained her shirt. "Lightning I'm not going anywhere again, look." Fang grabbed Lightning's hand and pressed against her face.

"God, you're annoying you know."

"Yep."

"And selfish."

"And a dumbass."

"Yep."

"And stupid."

"I get it Lightning."

"What I'm trying to say is, Fang you're a dried squid." Lightning sighed and buried her face in Fang's chest. "Shit." Lightning wiped her eyes and chuckled as she noticed the wet mess that Fang's shirt had become. She hadn't cried that much since well the other day in the elevator, present company was involved there too. "I wasn't planning on crying all over you."

Fang looked at it and shrugged. "Lightning you can't, shouldn't bottle everything up okay. That's why I'm here after all." Fang smiled softly as she reached up and wiped Lightning's cheek again. "And don't worry about the shirt okay. I've got a spare in my bag. So how about you go take a shower and slip into that dress you've been torturing me with all week, I'll get changed into something dry and then we can go from there, sound good?"

"Yeah. But you're gonna answer all my questions though and explain why you were a dick."

"You little shit, keep insulting me and I'll actually become a dried squid, love to see you try and kiss me then Sunshine."

Lightning nodded and quickly kissed Fang again. "Got it, just one second." Lightning hopped off of Fang and over to the bench. Looking around for a moment she grabbed the pair of handcuffs that were lying there. Holding them out she gave Fang a look. "Put these on."

"What?! Lightning I'm not ready for that I mean I'm still you know warming up to the whole dom thing, I mean you a hot as hell as a police officer but you know, that kinda stuff is more in Vanille's ballpark." Fang shuffled back on the couch, handcuffs were a no, a definite no.

"Wait what? Vanille... Serah." Lightning shuddered at the idea of... "That's just... well I can't have you running off anywhere this time." Lightning sat down on Fang's stomach, pinning her to the couch as she cuffed Fang to the table. "There. Now be a good girl and wait, I'm going to go change."

Fang watched Lightning leave the room before she looked down at the handcuffs in defeat. "Ooh is that an order?" Fang teased and watched Lightning who pocketed the key. "I'm sorry! Wait, how am I supposed to change my shirt with these on?" She raised her hand and jangled the cuffs.

Lightning called out from the hallway. "Dunno. She answered with a playful tone and hurried off to the bathroom. "You'll figure something out Fang." Lightning added before the bathroom door clicked shut.

Fang groaned and mumbled. "Stupid woman." Kicking her shoes off she rolled her eyes. Of course something stupid Jihl forced the GP to go through would help her, what did Jihl put them through you ask? Using your feet when your hands are tied up. The idea or something was in a hostage scenario if she was ever captured or something. Never the less Fang unzipped her bag with her toes and grabbed the handcuff keys out, with practised ease she flicked them up and caught them in her free hand. "You think handcuffs could keep me down!" Fang shouted and fumbled with the keys. The keys slotted into the lock and turned, grinding as the handcuffs refused to budge. "Huh?" Fang scratched her head and tried the other key, nothing. Fang was puzzled, her keys should open all government issue handcuffs. "The hell won't you come off?" Fang mumbled to herself and pulled on the handcuffs, a part of her dying as she shifted the table and nearly sent the glasses of wine crashing down onto the carpet. Reaching over with her free hand she rolled her eyes as she picked up her glass and took a mouthful of wine.

"That dress better be worth it Claire." Fang mumbled to herself and managed to fish her phone out of her pocket. "Damn handcuffs."

Craning her head back as the bathroom door slowly opened Fang took a deep breath in anticipation, the sound of bare feet softly padding across the floor approached her. Lightning stepped out with her hair tied back into a messy ponytail that hung down to her shoulder and a black dress with a thin black lace pattern of flowers across the midsection that extended down to her long, sleek legs.

"Claire..."

Lightning nodded as she took in Fang's reaction, warmth flooding to her cheeks. "So you like it?"

"That's one word you could use for it." Fang turned and moved to approach her, but was stopped shortly as her head plummeted into the couch. "Damn handcuffs."

Lightning couldn't help herself but chuckle as she moved over and sat down on the couch beside Fang. Reaching over she moved Fang's wine glass to the other side of the table. "Now Fang I need you to tell me everything. I need to know why you left me."

Fang meekly nodded. "Alright." Taking a moment she settled back down and got comfortable as she crossed her legs. "So I guess we can skip all the way up to the start of Pulse right? I mean us in college is a story for another time."

"Yeah, I remember that all too well." Lightning nodded and looked up at Fang, despite working with her for the past week or so she'd never actually much of the chance to just stare at her without emotions or evil villains bearing down on them. It was more relaxing than Lightning would have thought to just drown in Fang's accent again.

"Right so I just got shipped out for Pulse and you went to the Guardian Corps so you could stay with Serah. Jihl and yours truly got pulled aside. Instead of going to the Gran Pulse Assault Team like we were supposed to we got shipped elsewhere."


	4. Chapter 4: Arks Part 1

Brass and Lightning Chapter 4: The Arks

The snow outside was a fierce blizzard, aggressively trying to bury the convoy of trucks under the heaviest snow Pulse had seen. The drivers were struggling to even see the bright red tail lights of the truck just a few metres in front of them let alone the bumpy country road they were supposed to be following. The soldier in the passenger seat grabbed his radio as the brake lights lit up in front of them and the convoy once again slowed from a sluggish crawl to a complete standstill.  
"Whiskey One what's the situation over." The soldier sniffled and rubbed his nose as he called over the radio, even with the heater cranked up at maximum it was still freezing cold. Unfortunately, he couldn't wear giant snow gloves and operate the radio at the same time.  
"We've got a fallen tree blocking the road whiskey two. Clearing it now over."  
Whiskey One's radio operator looked back to the soldiers in the back. "Alright, boys throw your coats on we got work." The soldier grabbed his coat and looked at the driver who was grinning, his hands resting on the steering wheel.  
"Hey I can't drive with cold hands now can I?"  
The co-driver shook his head and muttered something to himself as he threw his door open as he hopped out, the door slamming shut a moment later. The soldiers in the back hopped out, nothing but slight grey blurs amidst the storm to the truck behind them.  
"Roger. Whiskey three you got that?"  
"We do, just make it quick. The sooner we got out of this damn storm the sooner I'll be happy."  
"Same over here. Alright, hang tight boys they've got soup on the stoves waiting for us." The soldier in the second truck set his radio down and glared at the heater. "Damn piece of Cocoonian garbage."

In the back of the truck, the soldiers less fortunate. They didn't even have terrible heaters, instead the twenty armed soldiers were wrapped up as tightly as possible in blankets and thick white snow camouflaged uniforms that covered them from head to toe.  
For Jihl Nabaat though it was even more so hell. This was the first real winter she had ever experienced and it was a cold like no other. Cocoon being a man made planet meant the weather was completely controlled and despite their attempt at recreating Pulse's weather cycle they had made it bearable. So there Jihl sat wrapped up in her blanket and uniform freezing her rear off. If this was the GP's way to get rid of her because she was a Cocoonian then she'd have preferred a firing squad. At least she'd be able to feel something when she finally went, rather than the numbness that consumed every inch of her limbs. Looking out the back of the truck, Jihl groaned and let out a long sigh, her breath misting as she glared out at the snow. Back in Cocoon, it would be summer right now which meant her old roommate would be lounging around the apartment they rented in Bodhum, lying around in short shorts and a tank top while eating ice cream. Jihl groaned wanting to be back with her. She'd be lying to herself if she said that the notion of being with Lightning had never crossed her mind, they had grown up together and there was something about Lightning that she just found attractive. Unfortunately for Jihl, that silly fantasy of being her partner ended when she got the letter from the Gran Pulse Special Operations Unit or what everyone shortened it to, the GP.

When Jihl first accepted the other she'd thought it'd be like the old noire flicks back home, the ones of hard-boiled detectives and straight whiskey. Instead, she was stuck with this horror. Yet the GP had sent her and another woman who Jihl just couldn't quite put a name to her face. Maybe it was the cold but then again trying to guess a Pulsian on Pulse was like finding a needle in a haystack while wearing a blinfold. Turning her attention from the white abyss outside and back inside the truck, she looked around at the other shivering troops, hunched up against each other in a desperate attempt to ward off the cold. It was strange actually now that she thought about it. Pulse was supposed to be a civilisation that was decades ahead of Cocoon, after all, it was their superiority that had won them the war. The point is that you would think that Pulse would have trucks that had somewhat decent heaters by now. Jihl looked up to the soldiers who were fumbling with a steel mug of coffee, passing it along shaky hands.  
Thankfully the soft jerk meant the convoy of trucks were moving again.

"Hey buggo wanna cup a coffee?" The soldier beside Jihl said as he held the mug in front out to Jihl, who just stared back at him with her hands buried underneath her jacket. Slowly she reached out and wrapped her numb hands around it. The warmth making her smile as best she could with frozen cheeks.  
"I'm sorry, buggo?" Jihl took a sip of the coffee and handed it down the line, all the while keeping her gaze on the soldier who leant back and shrugged.  
"You know because you come from Cocoon. You know moths and bugs and stuff. What do you guys call yourselves then?"  
Jihl bit her lip as she thought over an answer, an answer which had her stumped actually. Cocoonian was the proper term though a lot of people had just shortened it to Coon or just people. "Cocoonian would be what we call ourselves, and what you guys are heartbeats then?"  
The soldier shook his head and huffed at her response. "Damn you've got me 'beat' there. So what brings a Cocoonian to... wherever we are?" The soldier trailed off as he realised he had no idea where they were. "Wait are you the special forces guy, girl?"  
Jihl sunk down in her seat and pulled her blankets up. "Yeah, I just transferred to the GP. It's my first week actually on Pulse."  
"Ah well then let me be one of the first to welcome you to Pulse, it's cold, miserable and doesn't care about it's soldiers. I'm Cliff by the way." The soldier extended a hand out to Jihl who hesitated before shaking it, her having to leave the safety of the thick wool.  
"Jihl." She said in response and shook his hand.  
"So how do you do it?" Cliff leant forward, curious as he'd been a soldier for nearly ten years and was still only a Corporal.  
"You know just the usual. Top of every class and exam. Graduated from the academy two years ahead of everyone else and an outstanding military service record."  
The giant sitting across from them leant forward and shot Cliff a smug look. "So what you're saying is that Sanwitch had no chance."  
"Hey! Come on Rigel, I passed my exams and stuff." Cliff yelled back at Rigel crossed his arms and laughed with the other soldiers in the truck.  
Jihl chuckled too earning a sigh from Cliff. "Sheesh, you too?" There was a time to be hard and there were very few times to laugh, this it would seem was one of the latter. "Nice to meet you... Crap." Jihl sat her coffee down and glared at her hand, tears in her eyes as she laughed. "Sandwitch! Alright your name is Sanwitch. So Corporal... Sorry. You know I thought your name would be like Irah Opius or something more Pulsian sounding."  
"That's what's Pulsian sounding to you?"  
"I dunno." Jihl shrugged in response and looked at the giant sitting across from them. Jihl Nabaat, GP." She leant over and shook Rigel's hand.  
Rigel raised an eyebrow as he leant back. "Rigel Dalton. What does GP stand for anyway?"  
Jihl looked at him and raised an eyebrow, apparently the GP was known as much here as it was back on Cocoon. "It's your nation's Government Police apparently. A special forces unit without borders or at least that's what I was told."  
Rigel and Cliff both nodded and spoke in unison. "I see."  
"You didn't know? I guess as far as Cocoon is concerned, they're a military unit."  
"Are they?" Cliff turned to Jihl who just shrugged in response.  
"I mean I'm here with you military guys so it seems like it. Jeez, how the hell do you not know your own army?"  
"And what about Psicom?" Rigel raised an eyebrow to Jihl who huffed.  
"Well, you got me there."

The soldiers perked up when the driver shouted back at them about having to make a stop. Once more the convoy slowed to a halt. "Alright boys, everybody out!" The driver shouted from the cab. Straightening herself out, Jihl stood up and marched out the back, her face lighting up as they were stopped outside a checkpoint with a dozen or so guards armed with rifles. In the distance, a massive camp surrounded by a towering wall and watchtowers was a welcome sight to the soldiers.  
"God I think we're finally here." Rigel said in relief.  
Everyone else too looked up in relief, cheering quietly amongst themselves at the idea of warming up. The armed soldiers assembled in front of them. The senior officer, likely the man in the cap with a buzz cut shouted orders to his men who began going along the line, giving the soldiers injections.  
"Alright men. We're giving you a tracking chip to make sure no one gets the idea of skipping town and also when you go inside the Ark we can keep you from getting lost. Now there are a few rules you have to follow while you're here. As far as anyone is concerned this is a winter training exercise. You are not to divulge any information about this operation to anyone, not your wife, not to the guy working beside you and most of all not your dead grandma. Got that maggots? Sir!" The soldier stepped aside as an older man wearing a white and grey camo cap pushed through the crowd of soldiers. He rubbed his chin as he looked over the group. "Private Nabaat and Private Yun, to the front." He shouted and waited for the two to move out. Jihl looked to the other woman and furrowed her brows. She was somehow familiar yet she just couldn't put a name to her face. Another thing that had her surprised at how boyish she looked. Her muscular figure, short trimmed hair and her Pulsian height that had her standing nearly half a foot taller than Jihl.  
"Sir." The two women said as

they stood at attention.  
"I'm Captain White. You two with me. Dorschevsky handle the rest."  
Dorschevsky saluted and took the list from the officer. "Yes sir. Alright maggots, roll call. Ayun!"  
"Here."

Jihl and Private Yun followed White who climbed into the front of a jeep, Jihl and Yun taking the back seat. White looked at the driver who nodded and began driving towards the camp. The car came to a stop in front of a large set of steels doors that enclosed the centre of the camp behind even thicker walls. Jutting up into the sky was the jagged outer structure of the Ark that had been blanketed by the snow, the dark metal still visable underneath all the white.  
"Impressive ain't it. It goes down about forty metres or so underground as well."  
White raised his hand signalling the soldiers standing on the walls to open the gates. On the other side, a dozen or so soldiers were standing at the ready accompanied by several armoured vehicles surrounding the Ark. The car pulled through the gates and came to a halt as soldiers hurried over to check it's occupants. The soldier nodded and stepped back as White looked at him. "He's waiting for you in his office Sir."  
"Thank you ." The driver who continued driving over to the small portable building. The car came to a halt, reversing back and heading out the gate when everyone but the driver stepped out. White started walking, signalling for Jihl and Yun to walk beside him. "The names Frank White. Welcome to the Ark ladies."

Frank hurried up the steps into a small office building. Inside there were dozens of paperpushers hurrying around, one of them hurried over and saluted Frank before leading him to a back room. The room was empty, the only thing taking up space was the desk in the centre with a glass of whiskey on it and a man passed out. He looked around the same age as Frank.  
"Ahem. Whitman, Whitman sir." Frank walked over and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, sliding it towards the edge. The sleeping man snapped awake and grabbed the bottle before it fell off the edge.  
"Whitman, you ugly bastard. How'd you manage to keep in one piece? Here of all places."  
"Frank! You're one to talk, how the hell are you still alive?" Whitman threw back his half empty glass of bourbon and rose to his feet, nearly shaking Frank's arm off. "I thought by now those darn co..." Whitman looked over at Frank's companions and frowned, his dark brown eyes fixed on the pale skinned woman. Taking another mouthful of his whiskey he spoke in a low grumble. "So whose the pale skin?" He looked over to Jihl once more, mumbling something under his breath before he staggered back to his desk. Whitman suddenly collapsed with a loud grunt, falling into his desk and knocking the bottle onto the floor. The thick glass, however, didn't shatter instead just made a loud 'thud.'  
"God damn it." Whitman heaved himself over into the chair, his legs scrapping with a metal sound as they dragged across the floor. Yanking open one of the draws Whitman reached down and grabbed another bottle, placing on the desk before sitting a wrench beside it.  
Pouring himself another glass, Whitman took a large mouthful before he pulled up the legs of his trousers, revealing the two metal replacements for his legs. Frank pulled out a chair and sat down across from him, taking the glass Whitman held out.  
"A little gift from the war." Whitman said to Jihl and Yun, tapping the wrench against his right leg. "Colonel Whitman." Whitman sat the wrench down and extended his hand out to Jihl and Yun. Hesitantly Jihl reached out and grabbed his hand, earning a chuckle as Whitman shook her hand. "Hey just cause you're a pale skin doesn't mean you guys didn't put up a hell of a fight. So Private Yun and Private Nabaat you're from the Special Operations Unit, either of you got experience under your belt?"  
Jihl shook her head and kept herself from looking down at the man's legs as he freed her hand. "No, sir."  
Yun shrugged and shot the man a grin. "No sir but I did grow up in Oerba."  
Whitman chuckled as he took up the wrench again and tweaked his legs. "Damn, now I should be the one feeling sorry for you kid. But that aside you should be fine. The unit that you're being put with are all experienced soldiers, well were. Sanchez is the one that is left. Now as for what you're actually doing..." Whitman took his glass and drank the rest of the liquor. "The Pulsian government hopes to study the Ark here in the hopes of learning how to dismantle them. As you know, Pulse won the war after we launched and activated a single ark onto Cocoon. The problem however is that the arks are capable of producing a seemingly limitless supply of defensive units called cieth. Your objectives are as follows, one disable the arks defensive capabilities and the production of cieth and two..." Setting the glass down he looked at Frank who nodded in response to the look Whitman gave him. "We have it in good information that there is an enemy amongst the men stationed here. Unfortunately we are still unable to figure out who it is. There are still anti-Pulse groups both on Cocoon and Pulse and if these groups were to gain the power of an ark the resulting chaos would be catastrophic. You've both been ruled out as spies as the last six months since your applications to the GP you've both been watched and investigated, the information leaks are only weeks old. So that's your orders, find the mole and dispose of them how you see fit, obviously catching them alive would be the better solution." Pouring himself another glass, Whitman looked at both of them, a stout expression across his face. "Oh and of course, as usual this conversation never happened. Now Frank, mind taking the recruits to the barracks and getting them settled. Last thing they need to see is these things coming off." Whitman tapped his legs and chuckled, Frank nodded, drinking the rest of the whiskey before he put the glass down on the desk and turned towards the door.. "Dismissed."  
"Sir." Yun and Nabaat both saluted Whitman and follow Frank back outside.

The cold was a harsh and sudden shock that struck Jihl as she stepped outside, nearly as harsh as the silence that ensued. No one spoke a word as they made their way back through the gate and into the warmth of the main building. Jihl was more than glad to stretch her fingers and enjoy the feeling as the cold melted away in the heaters throughout hallways which Frank led them through. Sadly she wasn't the only one basking in the warmth, several dozen or so soldiers were standing around fresh out of the showers topless A few eyes drifted her way as Jihl passed by, the prying eyes quickly retreating away as Frank hurried passed.  
"Boys we're army not navy, keep your eyes off my ass and I'll do the same."  
A group of soldiers stiffened up and saluted. "Sir yes sir."  
"At ease gentlemen." Frank laughed as he hurried past.  
"Alright Nabaat, Yun, your bunks are in the back room, the last door on the left. Wait here a moment, I need to go make sure your new room mates are presentable." Frank slid open the door, rolling his eyes as he stepped inside. Looking around the usual suspect was lying on her bed with a lack of clothing as she flicked through a magazine.  
"Sanchez, what is my rule about shirts?" Frank looked at the woman with shoulder-length ash blonde hair and a current lack of upper apparel. Sanchez looked up at him, shooting him a deflated response as she sat up and reached over to the dark green shirt that was tossed on the other end of her bed. "At least one pair of outer apparel at all times sir."  
"That's right Sanchez. All times, all apparel. Squad one you have two more new soldiers joining your squad and you shall be more than happy to accommodate them. Privates Nabaat and Yun from the GP will be joining us in the current operation for the foreseeable future. Privates you may come in." Frank turned to the door as Jihl and Yun marched in and stood at attention.  
"Private Jihl Nabaat, reporting for duty."  
"Private Oerba Yun Fang, reporting for duty."  
"Alright, goodnight ladies." Frank said, turning around and shutting the door behind him. The duo stood in silence until the sounds of his boots faded into the distance. Yun hurried to an empty bunk and dropped her bag beside it, opting to fall into the blankets and groan in relief. The two other soldiers Cliff and Rigel were laying about, unpacking their things and talking amongst themselves. Following Yun's example, Jihl proceeded straight to an empty bunk and put her bag down on the foot of the bed. Without a word, she unzipped her bag and began unpacking her things into the locker beside her.

"Hey Sanga, psst Sanga." Sanchez glared at Cliff who was a bunk across from her and tried his best to ignore her. Grabbing one of her boots she tossed it at him, earning an irritated glare in response from the soldier "Yes, Sanchez?" Cliff said as he looked up from the letter he was reading.  
Sanchez fidgeted with her hair, neatening it as best as she could. "Well, how do I look?"  
"Good." Cliff said in response and tossed the boot back.  
"Just good?" Sanchez huffed and mumbled to herself "Why do I get stuck with a squad that can't appreciate a woman's assets." Sanchez quickly applied some lip gloss and looked at her reflection in the small mirror she kept in her locker. Looking at the mess on her bed Sanchez bit her lip, she could have sworn her pants were somewhere around here. Settting her rifle aside her locker, Sanchez brushed the gunpowder off of her pants and pulled them over her long olive skinned legs.  
"Hey Sanchez, you know I'm just an ass man." Rigel called out from his bunk. "Now if you had a great ass then I'd be more than willing to appreciate it."  
Sanchez stopped and looked at her hind quarters, she had seen better asses yet in her opinion it was at least a good four. "Ah yes how is that big booty

baker of yours?"  
"Narissa? She's good. Apparently, there's a group of old guys that come in each morning and buy out all her bread and, I might be a father." Rigel whispered the last bit and kept unpacking his things. Sanchez rushed over and looked at him, a grin spread across her face. "Rigel sweety what was that last bit, I'm getting older you know, hard hearing and all." Sanchez looked at the giant of a man and grinned. Despite his stalwart appearance, when it came to his wife Narissa, Rigel was a giant teddy bear.  
"I'm a daddy now. So that means this my last tour kids" Rigel sat back and looked over to Cliff who was already passed out asleep.  
"Congrats man, I'm glad for you. Now I only have to baby sit three kids."  
"So are you gonna go greet the new guys, you already know what happened last time."  
"Yeah..." Sanchez nodded, remembering how the last new guys that got applied for a transfer the following week after she had introduced herself. "Yeah. So you're really leaving us?"  
"Yep and the first thing I'm doing is changing that sign. Narissa and Rigels Bakery. I dunno about the name but we'll figure something out."  
"Hey don't go putting more buns in the over, gotta wait till get some of my own. It's gonna suck without you around you know." Sanchez fidgeted with her hands as she walked back to her bunk.  
"Hey Sanchez, I'm just going to live with my wife and kid, I ain't dying you know." Rigel shook his head and looked at the woman who had covered her face with the magazine from before. "Plus you better come around sometime, if you don't then I'll have to come out here and drag your ass back. Kid can't grow up without his favourite aunt annoying them all the time right?"  
Sanchez looked up as she finished and grinned as she nodded. "Aww, I'm an aunt."  
"Yeah, you guys are the only family I got."  
Sanchez threw her magazine at Cliff and ran her fingers through her hair.  
"YOU FUCKER!" Cliff shot to his feet and threw the magazine back with a considerable 'thud' as it smashed into Sanchez locker. "Yeah, I guess so. Alright, goodnight daddy."  
"Sanchez." Rigel groaned at her choice of words. "Call me daddy again and I'll damn sure make you cry for your mommy."  
"Oh, yea? That a promise big boy?" Sanchez said as crawled under the thick blankets on her bed.  
"Night Sanchez."  
"Night Cliff."  
"Night Sanchez." Cliff called out, angrily mumbling to himself as he put his things away. "Always the same shit with you, every time..."  
Sanchez looked over to the new girl's bunk. The blonde was asleep already but considering she was from Cocoon and that she had most likely flown in from New Bodhum Airport it was no surprise. That usually added another ten or so hours of flight time. "Night new girl." Sanchez whispered to herself before she buried her face in her pillow, hiding the blushes that ran across her face.

Even the sunlight was cold as it slowly entered the room. Jihl was already up, silently looking over a map of the facility. Taking a glance around the room, the others were still asleep despite the sun beginning to rise over the snow covered mountains in the distance. Stretching her arms over her head, Jihl let out a yawn. Having woken up so early had let her get in the showers first and by herself. Unfortunately, the hot water hadn't wanted to work, at least the mess hall had hot coffee on hand on her way back. Jihl grinned happily as she leant over to the mug of steaming coffee and took a sip. Reaching down Jihl grabbed her boots, with nothing planned for the day she figured she might as well look around the facility and get her bearings. Especially without her room mates being awake and pestering her, or so she had hoped.  
Sanchez groaned something about wet sandwiches as she woke up, running her fingers through her blonde hair and pushing it out of her face as she wriggled out from under her blankets. Letting out a yawn she looked up and watched Jihl quietly close the door behind her as she left. A part of Sanchez died as she forced herself up onto her feet stumbling as she wasn't quite awake as she had hoped when she reached down for her boots. Letting out another yawn she looked out the window, the sun had just barely risen over the forest. "Holy hell it's early." Sanchez grumbled and grabbed her boots.  
"Oi luv!" Sanchez called out as she rushed out of the room, the door shutting with a notable thud in the aftermath of the blonde's haste as she chased after the rookie.

Jihl turned and looked back at the Pulsian that stumbled as she chased after Jihl with one boot on and her hair still a spiky blonde mess. "I thought you'd wanna guide around the place, considering you are new here and as the senior officer I thought ya know... I could help." Sanchez shrugged while somehow managing to get her other boot on without tripping over.  
Looking at the woman, Jihl let out a silent groan, her hopes of exploring freely were already a fleeting notion. If she had heard Whitman correctly than this mess was the only person still surviving after entering the Ark and any information right now would be more than welcome. Even if it did come from a blushing mess who was staring at her and grinning like an idiot.  
"I could." Jihl said, forcing a smile to her face. "I'm Jihl Nabaat."  
Sanchez's grin stretched further as she shook Jihl's hand. "Vaalashanka Sanchez, Major Vaalashanka Sanchez but you can call me Vaal, it's easier. Any questions?" Vaal sighed in relief as Jihl started walking again, keeping her attention on Vaal.  
"Yes, quite a few actually. Firstly..."  
"The Ark? Do you wanna do the Ark questions over breakfast, it's better to keep it just between us." Sanchez cut Jihl off before she could speak, Jihl simply nodded in response and turned her attention to the soldiers in the hallway. Whitman's mention from yesterday of a mole coming back to her. "So then Vaal where are you from?"  
Vaal turned to Jihl with a smirk on her face. "Well, you certainly move in fast don't ya?"  
Jihl looked at the woman, eyes wide as the woman laughed and shoved her hands into her pockets. Rubbing the bridge of her nose Jihl rolled her eyes and looked at the blonde. "I was trying to make small talk." Jihl snapped and hastened her pace, the faster she got to the mess hall the better.  
"Oi, I didn't mean nothing luv, just teasing you. Hey, wait up!" Vaal shouted and hurried after Jihl who smirked as she strode off with the Pulsian in tow. So this how Lightning felt, a small grin tugged at the edges of Jihl's lips, she could get used to this.  
"Are you Cocoonians all this stubborn or just you?"  
Jihl stopped at the doorway and turned to the Pulsian who huffed and pushed her hair back again.  
"Mmm just me sorry, otherwise you'd be the one cleaning up our mess."  
Vaal licked her lips. "Oh boy I'd clean up your mess alright. Hehehe"  
"Information first." Jihl glared cautiously at the soldier who laughed creepil. Vaal stopped and took a serious tone as they entered the mess hall and made their way towards the rear.  
Vaal waved to the cooks on duty who waved back and set about fixing them a meal. "So luv how do you feel about burgers?"  
"Burgers? I don't know, I can't actually recall the last time I had one." Jihl pressed a finger to her chin as she paused and thought back. "Burgers huh, oh yeah that Pulsian chain just opened up in Eden a while back."  
Vaal nodded in approval. "Ah you mean Behemoth Burger, it's filth but it's good. I mean Behemoth Burger is one the finer points of Pulsian culture. The burgers here are fine and all, despite being packaged and frozen. Still don't compare by a long shot though."

One of the cooks strolled from the kitchen carrying their food on the trays he held in each hand. Setting them down he nodded to Vaal before hurrying to the door and locking it from the oustide.  
"Alright we're good, ask away." Vaal said as she picked up her coffee and began to sip it.  
Jihl pushed her food to the side and crossed her fingers as she leant on forward. "So what is the Ark? What are the cieth?"  
Vaal looked around double checking and making sure nobody was in the room with them before returning her focus back to Jihl. "Alright, the Arks as you know are weapons, experimental weapons. Originally they were designed as contained research platforms, they would shut and the internal security, the cieth would deal with any outbreak situation." Vaal let out a lengthy exhale followed by another mouthful of her coffee. The pair of warm chestnut brown eyes looked up and met Jihl's. "Then came the war."  
Jihl shifted her hands around her cup of coffee, the warmth welcome as she crooked her head. "And..." She said at Vaal's lack of continuation.  
Vaal shook her head and looked back at Jihl. "Well come on you know the rest. War, death and the Arks. Two which landed in Eden and Bodhum ended the war. It's funny actually what you said earlier, about cleaning up our mess. See my dad was from Cocoon, he came here and met my mother, settled down for a decade. Apparently, that wasn't good enough. I was eight when he was sent back to Cocoon under the fear of him being a spy." Vaal's coffee cup chittered as her hands shook. Slowly she sat it back down and looked up with her lips slightly curled into a frown. "Then he was shot for treason because he refused to fight against Pulse."  
Jihl leant back and bit her lip, regretting her previous statement. "I'm sorry."  
"Sorry? Don't be. After all, you're just cleaning up our mess aren't you?" Vaal said in a sarcastic tone as she grabbed her burger. Rolling her eyes she gently gave Jihl a push. "Luv it's not like I'm one of those brainwashed Cocoonians are evil blah blah nonsense people. We did invade you after all. So my little Cocoonian puppet that brings me to my question? You're gay right?"  
Jihl choked on her coffee and looked to Sanchez who was grinning from ear to ear.  
"Aha, I knew it, so single too right? I mean I won't

judge if you aren't but... Sorry actually to my question. Are you a spy for Cocoon?" Vaal eyed Jihl as she took a bite of her burger, brushing her hair back behind her ears. A moment in silence passed as Jihl stared back at Vaal, looking back into the warm chestnut eyes that held her gaze. There's no way the Vaal could be the spy but then again she was in the best position to do so, the only survivor of the ark. If this was the game Vaal was going to play then Jihl was more than happy to join in. "And you? Are you a spy?"  
For a moment longer the two locked eyes at each other, a tense atmosphere brewing in the silence before Vaal licked her lips and winked. "Nah you got me, I'm no spy. Do you really think I have the subtlety to do all that sneaky around and stuff? How sweet. I mean you're already getting on my good side." Vaal chuckled and crossed her hands over her chest. "So Jihl now it's your turn. I like to know about all the soldiers in my unit so I guess I'm interrogating you first."  
Jihl rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee. "How lucky I am."  
"Yeah! I'm not even using handcuffs this time. I'm more than happy to if that's what you're into? I won't judge." Vaal whispered the last bit and motioned her locking her lips. Vaal was practically glowing with excitement as she wiggled in her seat. "So Jihl tell me about yourself?"  
Jihl tapped her fingers on the bench as she began to speak. "Well let's see, I guess I'll start with my parents then."  
"Mm, anything is fine."  
Jihl nodded just the mention of her parents was already annoying her. "Well I guess to get started my full title is Lady Jihlian Corvano Manellia Nabaat and I'm the daughter of Lord and Lady Nabaat."  
"Ooh fancy."  
Nabaat grumbled something to herself before she continued talking. "Well anyway after seventeen years of never ending torture and insufferable torment I ran away with the help of a dear friend. She was so keen on joining the army and fighting, she needed the money for her sister and I guess somewhere along the line I just got swept up in it and here I am."  
"So you're a lady? Like a legit noblewoman?"  
Jihl huffed and pressed her against the table, her mumbling barely heard underneath the groans. "Urgh, this is why I don't tell people."  
Vaal leant forward and rested her chin on her hands as she watched the blonde lie on the table. "You know if you are royalty then I'd be happy to serve, Milady." Vaal grinned as Jihl groaned and died on the table.  
Slowly Jihl managed to raise her head and look up at Vaal, the woman still had that annoying smirk stretched across her face. "Please treat me like a normal soldier."  
Vaal mock saluted her. "Oh of course milady."  
The door opened and a group of soldiers sprinted over to Jihl and Vaal's table. The foremost soldier stopped and saluted. "Major, we've got a situation."  
Vaal shot up and nodded. "Alright. See ya in a bit luv, I gotta go." With a long sigh, Vaal turned and rushed out of the room, an air of seriousness surrounding her as the soldiers followed her.  
Jihl looked down to her half eaten food and leant back. At least her commanding officer wasn't a total ass hat this time. Jihl was one of the few children in the war who weren't orphaned, her parents using their influence and cowardice to worm their way out of fighting. Unlike Lightning and Serah who had lost both their parents to the war, it was a part of why Jihl had come to despise them. Leaning back in her chair she closed her eyes, her mind drifting away from the cold that nipped at her fingers.

Jihl looked up from swirling her nearly empty cup of coffee to the men she met on the truck. Cliff and Rigel if she remembered correctly. The duo hurried over dressed in their fatigues and looked to Jihl. "Morning Nabaat."  
"Cliff and Rigel right? Good morning."  
Rigel crossed his arms and motioned to the door. "So apparently we're getting pulled into the Ark already. Major Sanchez just put the word out for us to go in."  
"Ah, the incident earlier." Jihl mumbled to herself and shot to her feet. "Alright let's go."

Jihl looked at the soldiers surrounding the entrance way to the Ark, they had large cannons and tanks too. Frank turned from staring at the gates with a radio filled with static in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He waved to them as they hurried over.  
"Good morning. Let's go to outfitting first. Oh and they are a handful, just wait till you meet them." Frank turned and began walking to the small brick building beside the gates. "We lost a team somewhere in the first levels of the Ark. They were meant to signal back three hours ago." With a drawn out sigh, he stared into space for a moment before he pushed the door to outfitting open and stepped inside. Not what Jihl had expected was to say the least. It looked like something out of a knight and armour movie. A manner of weapons hung from walls, axes, swords and maces. Back in the smithy, a pair of moles with oversized goggles laughed as they worked away, shaping steel into weapons amongst the flames and the Italian music coming out of the small radio on one side of the bench.  
"Rosso! Porco!" Frank said and slammed his hands down on the bench, eyeing the bottle of wine sitting on the anvil.  
The duo turned in unison and held their glasses up. "Ah Matusa, what brings you to our little den. Ah I see, see that Rosso?" Porco, the plumper of the two nodded and ran his fingers through his beard as Jihl and the others stepped in.  
"I see Porco, I see."  
"See Rosso this is why Frank comes to us. When are we going to get a woman's touch in here Frank?"  
"Wine... always with the wine Porco." Rosso shook his head and rested the sword he was sharpening on the bench.  
Frank shuddered as the duo took another sip. "What did I say about drinking on the job?"  
"This?" Porco recoiled and stared at the wine in horror. "You call this WINE! Urgh, I am sorry for you Frank. It would seem your age is now affecting your drinking too, a shame. This is merely flavoured water, you couldn't get drunk off of this."  
"A shame." Rosso added in before going back to his work.  
With a chuckle, Frank shook his head and pointed to the new recruits. "They need outfitting, I'll leave them to you and no wine. Please repeat it."  
"No..." Rosso started.  
"WINE!" And Porco finished.  
"Wine he says, imagine what he calls that scotch hey." Rosso said loud only loud enough to be heard as he turned his attention back to the weapon in his tongs.  
"Muddy water in a bottle most likely... Poor old man."  
"Good luck you three. I'm getting out before I go mad." Frank turned and hurried for the door, stopping in the arch he looked over shoulder and huffed. "NO Wine. Sharpening a bloody sword with one hand." Frank mumbled as he shut the door behind him.

The two little moles scurried about and gathered the gear on the bench.  
"Alright, so we have your usual stuff. Standard issue rifle, handgun, grenades."  
"No armour?" Cliff looked to Porco who shook his head.  
"Not any more. It's useless in the Ark, cieth just tear through it like paper. What you need is one of these." Porco turned and took the mass of metal, a great sword that towered a head over the little smith. "Here take it." With ease, Porco held it out to Cliff who grunted and staggered back under the weight. "It weights sixty pounds, the weight of your life my friend."  
"Now for the rest of you."  
Rigel huffed and took the giant mace Rosso handed him. "This is ridiculous."  
"Well, that's what happens when the first three thousand soldiers we sent were wiped out within a month. They kept running out of bullets, and even then the armour that the bigger cieth have makes them pretty much invulnerable to ammunition. But this." Porco grabbed the small sword for Jihl and held it in the air. "It doesn't run out of bullets and it won't break."  
"Mmm I mean it's not that bad. I could get used to this, now just to shake off the rust. How long has it been?" Jihl took the sword comfortably in one hand as muscle memory took over. As a child, she had been forced into sword fighting by her parents. It was just another way to put her ahead of others, sword fighting being more for show than anything.  
Porco looked at them and nodded, touching his fingers in a cross pattern. "May gods protection be with you."  
Rosso did the same and bowed his head. "May gods protection be with you. Now off with you and make sure to bring those back. They're yours but they still need maintaining and Donna if you ever need two strong handsome men to drink wine with you're always welcome, and we're always open! Drink with me Rosso!"  
Porco lowered the glass from his mouth and cheered. "I already am!"

Brushing off the ridiculousness of striding across the open dressed in armour and carrying giant weapons, Jihl took the lead and hurried over to Frank who bore an air of seriousness around him. Thankfully free from the blacksmiths, he had another cigarette in his mouth. With a nod the gates to the ark opened, a chilling scream washed over them.  
"Best get in there quickly. Val should be waiting for you inside, if not follow the signs to research camp A, that's the team we lost."  
"Yes sir."  
Frank nodded again. "Oh and one other thing. You'll need these, nothing electronic works in there so we've had to brush the dust off some things, lightning included." He handed them each a glass lantern. "Best of luck to you."

Jihl hung the lantern freely on her belt, if she was going to be using a sword then she'd prefer if it wasn't so cumbersome. Taking a match she lit the kerosene lantern as the light crept out, the doors behind them shut.  
"Well, it's one way to start our first day here." Jihl said and began walking, her eyes trained on the darkness in front of her.  
Cliff shrugged and kept his attention on the sword he was lugging around, trying to get a feel for how to hold it before they ran into any cieth.  
Rigel nodded and kept pace with

her. His eyes looked up to the giant marking scrawled in paint on the wall. "Exit this way and hell this way."


	5. Chapter 5: Arks part 2

Jill, Rigel and Cliff carefully navigated through the darkness. It was hard to follow the map while they had their eyes glued forward, constantly peering into the darkness for the Cieth. Coming to a stop Jihl crouched down, looking to Cliff and Rigel who nodded and took aim up into the dark. Raising her lantern Jihl slowly dropped her head down and peered at her map for what had to be the thousandth time in the last hour. "It should be the next left."  
Cliff rolled his eyes and risked a questioning look at her for a brief second. "Should be?"  
"You want to read the map then? They weren't joking when they said this place was a maze, the map looks like someone went mad with a crayon." Jihl answered in a cold tone that sent the man reeling. Shuffling her boot to the side her face grimaced as she dragged her boot through the bullets that littered the floor around her.  
"Nah you should know I can't read a map. Onwards captain." Cliff joked and rose to his feet as the wind howled menacingly in front of them. "God I hate that."  
"Mmm." Rigel grunted and stood as well.  
"Captain?" Jihl said as they begun moving again, she had to admit it had a nice ring to it.  
Cliff shrugged and nodded. "Yeah I mean you've got the map and the attitude, surely we can find you a little hat too."  
"I.. The next right." Jihl said, unfortunately all too well aware of her 'attitude', it was her saving grace that carried her through at the top of her classes. Unfortunately, her academics and her cold exterior didn't make for good friends.  
Cliff dropped his shoulders and sighed in relief. "Finally, thought we were gonna be lost here forever." In front of them stood the imposing bulwark marked with the designation '01', the door had to stretch nearly twenty feet tall from the floor to the ceiling.  
Crouching down Jihl levelled her eyes with the sights of her rifle and waved towards the door. "I'll cover the door. Cliff crack it open."  
"Yes ma'am." Cliff answered and hurried over with Rigel. Looking over the dust-covered relic of a control panel. No fancy touch screen or ID control just a button for an intercom and a big lever. Cliff brushed his fingers against the bullet holes in the panel. "Guess someone wanted to keep it shut. Think there's a reason?" Cliff said sarcastically as he looked back to his teammates, both ignoring his humour. "Right." He mumbled and shined his flashlight over the panel. Pulling the lever down it snapped and fell out onto the floor, with an annoyed sigh he tossed it aside, the door didn't move either. Cliff shrugged and pushed the open button, couldn't hurt to try. Probably won't do anything either, Cliff thought to himself and to no surprise the door remained shut. "Any way around this thing?"  
Jihl pulled her map out and sat it on the floor, laying her rifle down beside it. Biting down on her lip as she traced her finger along the routes draw across it. "Might be, gotta go through a red 'don't enter' zone instead."  
"Try knocking, worth a shot right?" Rigel said and shrugged. Turning back around and keeping his attention on the passage behind them.  
"Could work so go ahead." Jill said and didn't bother hoping for it to work, there's no way it would be that convenient.  
Clearing his throat Cliff approached the door and pulled his hand back. Jihl already regretting her decision as she scowled behind him. With a deep breath, Cliff banged it against the cold steel three times. "I am Arthur, king of the Britons! I doth quest hereth for the holy grail. Grant me passage at once!"  
Jihl sighed and shook her head. She was used to leading a team of idiots, but Pulsian idiots were something else. "Really Cliff? What the hell is that?"  
"Oh what? You haven't seen Monty Python?"  
Jill shook her head. "Nope, it sounds stupid though."  
"None shall pass." A voice boomed from the other side as the door creaked and groaned.  
"That's not..." Cliff looked more deflated than anyone should at the reference. "Lord of the rings, really?"

With as much subtlety as a behemoth in a china store, the door managed to grind open enough for a person to squeeze through. "Took you long enough." A woman called out as she waved from the other side. "Well, what are you waiting for? Sanchez wants this door shut at all time y'know."  
"Yun?" Jihl called out, squinting her eyes under the lights on the other side that made it impossible to focus on the woman.  
"Who else would it be? We're the only ones left down here, well us and a bunch of dead guys in the corner." Yun answered back.  
Rising to her feet Jihl let out the tension filling her lungs and squeezed through. Jihl squinted as her eyes adjusted to the large artificial lights that illuminated the room in an eerie white light. The door groaned again once everyone was through and as harshly as it had opened it shut once more.  
"Glad you guys made it here, the place gives me the damn creeps." Yun shivered as she stepped away from the console and smiled at the sight of other human beings. "Sanchez ordered me to wait here for you guys and to hold position until she returns."  
Jihl nodded and turned to Cliff and Rigel. "Secure the area. Unless Yun has other plans?"  
"Nope I'm more of a sit back and hit things with a stick kind of girl, so you go right ahead captain." Yun grinned and grabbed her lance, resting it over her shoulder as she walked with Jihl.  
"So hold position is all?"  
"Mhmm." Yun nodded and looked to the other entrance to the room, a much smaller and less imposing door about a third of the size. "Yep, she said, Yun hold this position and wait for the others. Under no circumstances are you to enter this area without me accompanying you, understood?" Yun said in her best impression of the Major.  
"Well then I guess we can't do anything but sit tight and keep our eyes peeled. Cliff and Rigel wanna keep watch on the doors while I take a look around?"  
"Yes ma'am." The two answer in unison and moved over to the door, dropping their kit beside them as they knelt down and took aim with their rifles. Their small talk faded as Jihl moved to the other side of the room with Yun in tow, towards the desks and the pile of body bags.  
"Got the monkeys in line already?" Yun laughed and punched her in the shoulder. "So ma'am it's nice to meet ya, Oerba Yun Fang."  
Jihl stopped and looked at the woman, cursing herself for being so dense. "Tanned skin, Pulsian, Fang... Goddamn it Jihl." Jihl muttered to herself and looked at the woman. "Lightning's girlfriend."  
Fang tilted her head with a look of surprise on her face. "Yeah? How'd you know?"  
"I know Lightning from high school..."  
Fang snapped her fingers and shook her head. "That's where that voice is from! You're the 'stop having sex at three am girl'!"  
"And you showed up forty minutes late to the training exam the next day." Jihl breathed a sigh of anguish, trying to remember everything had been a nightmare with the two monkeys riding each other stuck in her head. "Nabaat."  
Yun shook her hand and pouted. "Awww I can't call you Jilly?  
"No," Jihl said coldly and withdrew her hand. "Nabaat."  
"But I mean you're pretty much my sister in law you know, when we get back I'm gonna marry her."  
Jihl opened her mouth to protest but stopped with her mouth agape. Honestly Jihl wanted to beat the woman to death for all the trouble she had caused, but then again Lightning would never forgive her if she did. Jihl crossed her arms and nodded. "Good."  
Fang grinned and put her hand over Jihl's shoulder. "So I got your approval Jilly?"  
Jihl brushed her hand off and grabbed the zipper on the body bag. "Not like I have a choice, you do unfortunately make Lightning happy. But know this Yun..."  
"Fang."  
"Fang if you do upset her then you better watch your back."  
"Yes ma'am." Fang saluted. Her eyes widening as she shot forward and grabbed Jihl's hand as she reached for one of the black body bags in the pile "You better prepare yourself before you open it, it's something"  
Jihl nodded and pulled the zipper down. "It's fine." As the bag opened and Jihl looked inside, the Cocoonian went pale, paler than any Cocoonian Fang had ever seen. With a gulp, Jihl forced the bile back down her throat with an awful sting and staggered back. Fang stepped towards her, catching Jihl as she gagged and forced her eyes shut. "What in god's name was that?"  
"Nothing in gods name that's for sure." Fang took a deep breath and cast a hollow glance over at the bags she and Vaal had to fill. "Should have seen it when I got here." The corpses were piled up yet there was still blood smeared across the floor and walls from where the bodies had been sliced and thrown about the room like children's toys. The image sent shivers down Fang's spine as she remembered how coldly the major had drawn her pistol and went around executing the corpses.  
"A Cieth or at least the beginning of one."  
Taking a deep breath Jihl focused on the sting of the vomit and regained herself, returning to her feet and nodded thanks. "So that's why they didn't tell us then."  
"Yeah I mean would you even believe it if they told us we were fighting monsters? Well that's enough monsters for me." Fang turned and strolled back to the other side of the room, leaving Jihl to herself. The blonde ran a hand through her and exhaled, taking a few moments to catch her breath. In all the shock and awe, her olive eyes hadn't even noticed the blood splattered across the floor. "Oh." Jihl said, less than fazed with the gory image of the cieth still burned fresh in her mind. With a deep breath, she forced her face back into the stout exterior, just like Lightning had shown her how to do before she turned and zipped up the body bag.

An hour seemed to last forever in the heavy atmosphere of the Ark. Cliff and Rigel nearly jumped when the door finally shot open and the Major stepped inside.  
"You're all here, good." Vaal said enthusiastically and tucked one of her knives back into its sheath. "Got a good look at the corpses right?" Vaal said taking a more serious tone as she stood with her hands on her hips in front of them.

"Not yet." Cliff answered and turned his attention over to the mountain of body bags, hesitating after having seen Jihl's response to the bodies.  
Vaal pointed over to them. "Go forth. It's better you see what we're fighting when it's not trying to kill you."  
"Yes ma'am." Cliff and Rigel answered and walked over uneasily, returning a moment later with a look of horror burned in their eyes.  
"Right now that's out of the way. That's what we're here to stop got that. Now I don't care if the girl has the nicest pair of tits you've ever seen. If it's got crystals coming out of it then put it down. They're not human anymore. Oh and the grenades are for you."  
"Huh?" Jihl looked at Vaal confused, as did the others.  
Vaal looked at them with a regretful look on her face, this was the least favourite part of her job. "So if you die in here you'll turn into a Cieth. The ones we're fighting now are likely soldiers we sent in. So if you do get nabbed then.. well you know."  
"You mean kill ourselves?" Cliff's eyes widened as he looked to Vaal, slightly shocked by the way she coldly responded. She wasn't like her usual self at all.  
"Yeah, save the team over yourself. Save us from having to waste bullets and shoot you ourselves. I know it's ugly but that's the only thing keeping you from coming back and killing the rest of us."  
"Can't we just wipe them all out?" Jihl said and looked to Vaal who hung her head.  
"We've tried, been mowing them down ever since we got here. I've lost count but when my team was still alive we were all well in the hundreds. It's possible the Ark reuses the dead Cieth that we leave behind so we can't be sure if that's even a possibility. Any other questions?" Vaal looked over the group. Taking a moment she spoke again, this time with a touch of her usual self in her voice "Look, I know it's ugly and downright nasty. I wouldn't wish upon anybody else and that's why we're here. I just wanna say I'm, sorry that any of you have to be here. Now all the depressing crap is out of the way, let's go! I've already cleared out the Cieth that broke through into the upper layers and sealed the bulkheads again but keep your eyes open for anything. Never know what'll sneak up on you in there." Vaal joyfully sang and pulled the door.  
"Roger." Jihl said, pulling her pack back on.  
"Oh and don't even think about touching those damn triggers. The moment you fire a gun in there we can all kiss home goodbye." Jihl looked up into the woman's gaze, for a brief second she swore she could feel a wall of sadness behind the chestnut brown eyes. Just in case, Jihl reached down and double checked the safety on her rifle, taking the extra measure of unloading her rifle and stuffing the bullets in her bag. "Roger."  
Cliff chuckled as he did the same, answering in his usual out of place upbeat tone. "Roger roger."  
Vaal shook her head and looked with a frown plastered across her face. "Thanks Cliff, we'll just chase the Cieth away with your bad star wars jokes. By the way, didn't most of those droids die horribly?"  
"I...Jeez, the fun is weak with this one. So Vaal how long have you been here?" Cliff said, deflated and eager to change the topic.  
"Me? Uhh.. four years?" Vaal said somewhat unsure of her answer. Holding up her hand Vaal counted down as she spoke. "Now rules. No shooting, no rooting, no looting and stay quiet. Right, let's go get your feet wet ladies."

Vaal shut the door behind her and punched a set of digits into the keypad beside the door, stepping back she nodded as a series of clicks sounded and the door sealed shut. Turning around she cast her eyes out over the gigantic hall. They were currently standing on a catwalk that overlooked a large courtyard. "So I believe the entrance we use is some kind of maintenance passage or something, that's why it runs around the whole ship."  
"So where's the actual entrance then?" Cliff whistled as he looked at the sprawling plaza a few hundred feet below. "That's quite a drop."  
"Yeah, it is and down there is the entrance, maybe. Never actually made it that far down." Vaal leaned dangerously over the edge and smiled, she had memorised the names of the stalls, it helped especially now that she was pulling patrols by herself. "The red one is Pierre's Pizza, and then New Dew Coffee, an original Bodhum Burger stall and the one in the corner over there is a butcher, sells the best sausages in the ark." Vaal smiled happily as she pointed out the stalls and stepped back.  
The others eyeing her warily as she hummed and continued down the catwalk.  
Carefully Jihl stepped forward and leant against the railing, hesitantly as she was still questioning whether it would go tumbling down under her weight. The Ark was not what she imagined, it definitely didn't fit the tense, dark image she imagined from the corridors she'd tiptoed down earlier that was for sure. Honestly, she had imagined just more dark cramped spaces. "This is the Ark?" Jihl said still somewhat expecting everything to change.  
"It's one of the plazas, there's another one at the other end of the ark. Oh and to the north is a large shopping district and to the east is a small park." Vaal nodded and stood beside her, casting a hand over the railing towards the clutter stalls and shops below. If it wasn't for the blood, corpses and crystal monsters than it could even be enjoyable. "Nearly makes you think this place isn't as bad as Australia."  
"What?" Jihl asked and took a step back from the edge.  
"Everything and I mean everything in here wants to turn your butt into a crystal pinata." Vaal laughed as she continued down the catwalk. "There's a security booth up ahead and I wanna check the surveillance footage. Oh before I forget I know Rigel and Cliff but you girls are new. Jihl, Yun, introductions please." Vaal said as she disappeared into the room a just a tad further down, the woman still visible through the cracked bulletproof glass.  
Cliff nudged Rigel in the ribs and laughed."She's already dug her fangs in, watch out Jihl she's got quite an appetite."  
"Oi you. Shush, a girls gotta work her charms." Vaal called out, waving her arms frantically as she hurried back out. "Don't go slandering my good name!"  
Cliff's eyes widened as a cieth shambled out from the doorway a few metres behind Vaal. Turning around Vaal calmly drew the knife from her vest and tossed it over her shoulder. Smirking proudly as the dagger stuck the monster. "See, charms." Vaal spun around and rushed towards the cieth while it was down, the creature was already scrabbling to its feet, unfortunately, hindered by the knife sticking out of its throat. With a loud 'crack', Vaal stomped and planted her boot on the creature's chest, quickly delivering a second knife into its chest. With a blood-curdling wail, it lashed out in a last attempt to wrest itself free from its attacker. Vaal leaned back, dodging the crystalline arm with ease and rammed the knife the rest of the way into the monster. "This boy is a shambler, kinda like your regular troops. Tricky things try and get you when they go down so watch yourself. And Cliff I am," Vaal stopped as she searched for the right word. "A decent woman so watch it mister, don't forget I'm also your commanding officer now." Vaal jerked her knives out of the creature's carcass and moved back into the security booth. Yun laughed, relieved to see Majors change in attitude as extended her hand out. "Oerba Yun Fang, nice to meet ya. You've met dear Jilly here?"  
Cliff looked over to Nabaat and raised an eyebrow. "Jilly huh, do you two know each other?"  
"No, we don't." Nabaat said and did her best to refrain from killing urges and oh were they building.  
Fang laughed at the glare that nearly rivalled the Farrons. "I date her best friend."  
"We've met. Cliff, Rigel I'm getting away from this moron while I still can." Jihl hurried past with the click of her heels on the catwalk as she grumbled. "Fangy?" Jihl mumbled to herself, surely the woman had dirt on her somewhere, some string of revenge she could tug at. After all, if Fang was going to push then so would she."

"Aren't we going to search for them?" Jihl asked, moving over to the array of cameras on the monitor. "The soldiers?"  
"No." Vaal shook her head and looked up at the tinge of red on the woman's cheeks, curiosity begging to ask what was making her blush. "If they're down in the courtyard then they're as good as dead, I'm not risking you for some eggheads. And... nope." Reaching down to the satchel hanging from her waist, Vaal pulled out a checklist and circled the names of the missing scientists.  
"We're leaving the soldiers?"  
"Scientists," Vaal said correcting her. "And yes, we are. Jihl if there's one thing you have to learn it's that there are no heroes down here. My old team was beyond legendary and now they're dead. We didn't even get to the courtyard." Vaal shrugged and tucked the list safely back in her satchel. Plus I kinda like having you around so, no heroes. You got that?" Vaal asked, looking over her shoulder.  
"No heroes, got it." Jihl said. "So what's the plan now?"  
Vaal chirped up as she put her stuff away. "Now? We double back and get out of here. Report to the CO and then we all run around the base in our knickers."  
"Vaal, you're joking right?" Jihl turned to the woman grinning from ear to ear and staggered back.  
Vaal stuck her tongue out and chuckled. "Do I look like an honest woman who would joke around, Jilly?" Vaal put extra breath into the tease and winked.  
"Not you too."

"GO! GO! GO!" Vaal laughed manically, waving her arms in all directions. Earning a fit of laughter from the soldiers comfortably decked out in thermals and thick winter coats. "You lot!" Vaal puffed up her chest and marched over, her hands reached out for the metal baton the mp was holding. The man more than gladly handed it to her and watched in amusement, fighting back laughter for the poor soldiers under the Majors command as she buried the tip in the snow. "Vaal I need that back when you're done!" The mp called out to the woman who was holding her hands around the baton as if it was a campfire.

"Gotcha Larry. RUN! JIHL MOVE THAT ASS! HYAA!" Vaal snatched up the ice-cold baton and sprinted after the Cocoonian. "I WANT TWENTY LAPS BEFORE THE SOUP GETS COLD!"  
Despite having lost feeling in her limbs ages ago, the threat of an icy cold baton and Vaal summoned energy reserves Jihl didn't know she even had. Not that it helped. Jihl cursing herself with an empty breath when her legs gave out and she crumpled, sending her tumbling into the snow. A part of her hated herself for not being as tolerable to the cold as the others, the other part of herself cursed the others. The Pulsians were having a much better time with the cold, especially Yun who was jogging like it was mid-summer with an annoying grin across her face. Gritting her teeth, Jihl buried her arms into the snow and began pushing herself up, not soon enough as a piercing cold baton poked her in the back earning a loud shriek that the whole base could hear.

"Hey, Nabaat are you okay?"  
"Is she gonna be fine?"  
"The major got her huh?"  
Usually, Jihl would have her ears glued to the conversations through the hall and a glare to ward off the concerned looks she received from the other soldiers, ready to prove herself above the concerns her fellow soldiers only expressed behind her back. But with her skin paler than usual and ice quite probably in her veins, she clutched the bundle of garments to her chest as inched towards the ladies showers. Shivering cold and nearly freezing to death, Jihl didn't know what was worse, Vaal's training or the Ark, both would likely kill her before the year was out at this rate. Reaching out to the door her hand barely managed to grab onto the door, worryingly, however, it didn't budge. Instead, Jihl nearly toppled over onto the floor when she pulled on it. Thankfully a nearby soldier rushed to her aid and caught her, kindly opening the door for her. Apparently being stuck with Vaal had earned Jihl a great measure of respect, the soldier nodded and spoke as if she was Pulsian.  
"Nabaat, do you need a hand with anything?"  
Jihl shook her head "No, th-th-thank y-you." And without further ado, she waddled inside, the feeling of the warm shower mist on her skin was paradise.  
Dropping her clothes on the floor, Jihl moved further in. She hadn't even got to the showers and she was already thawing out. A cold smile tugging at her lips as she turned the corner to where the showers were. Maybe it was the cold, or maybe it was the shock. Whatever it was Jihl stood motionless, her body frozen and her ears filled with the patter of water against skin as she looked down to the woman balled up on the floor.  
With an audible gulp, Jihl forced herself to breathe and process the sight before her. Jihl wanted to move, forward, backward, really just anywhere but where she was. Yet she remained still, laughing to herself because even the cold shivering had stopped.  
Somehow managing to slide her foot forward, Jihl slowly approached Vaal. The major was vulnerable, in a scary way. It was impossible to imagine she was the same woman who had just joked her way through hell and then proceeded to chase her and the others around the base in their underpants for an hour without even complaining about the cold, yet here she was, balled up and crying on the bathroom floor. Jihl stopped, her hand just inches away from reaching out and grabbing her, the pounding of her heart was deafening. With a pinch of reckless courage Jihl leant forward and brushed her fingers against the blue crystals protruding out of Vaal's back, there was a shimmer underneath her skin too.  
The major snapped back to herself and stopped crying. Turning to Jihl, Vaal gave the woman one of her usual cheery smiles. "Ah hey Jihl, getting close I see?" Vaal chuckled and joked as she moved away from Jihl's touch, her face dropping as Jihl lacked her usual response. "You saw them huh?"  
Jihl looked to the woman, the unnatural shiny blue eyes that stared back at her left her with an overpowering fear. "No I... Ahh!" Jihl gasped.  
Vaal fingers dug into her wrist and the woman lifted Jihl off the ground as she rose to her feet. "Jihl, please, the truth."  
"I didn't... my wrist." Jihl squirmed in anguish, it was like someone had slammed her wrist in a vice. Gritting her teeth she muffled her discomfort, the last thing she wanted was a storm of soldiers rushing in. "Alright I saw them. In your back. The crystals."  
"You can't tell anyone, got that? Promise me Jihl?"  
"Alright, I promise. Just fucking stop crushing my hand."  
Satisfied, Vaal released Jihl's wrist, who still numb collapsed onto the floor. "Shit. Jihl I... I'm sorry." Vaal dropped to her knees and reached out to Jihl, the blonde scurrying away as quick as she could.  
Painfully clutching her wrist, Jihl winced and managed to look up to Vaal. Her eyes returning to her natural brown. "They'd kill you if they found out." Jihl winced as she rubbed her wrist, where was the numbness when she needed it. "Well Vaal, care to explain the superman strength and monster eyes?"  
"Yeah, sorry." Vaal smiled, glad that Jihl hadn't fled to the door and called half the troops in on her. Not that Vaal couldn't have stopped her if she tried to do. "It was my first year here. I just got transferred here from Paddra with the rest of my infantry division and well we were sent in. Three hundred of us and we barely made it through the door." Vaal spoke calmly yet gripped her right hand to suppress the tremors that came back with the memories. "Nobody back then knew what to expect. Well, the doors opened and the cieth flooded it out. The battle was messy, everyone was just pushing against them, I mean people and tanks and before you know it we were running out of ammo and... The woman in front of me starts screaming, I thought she'd got hit ya know but she looked fine to me. But she turns to me and I see then that she's pulling at her harness and yelling. I was still half deaf from all the gunfire so it took me a moment to realise she was yelling that a grenade pin had come out. Well, guess I got lucky because a Cieth jumped at me as it went off and shielded me from the blast. Unfortunately, however, the blast riddled the side of my body with these crystals and I hit the snow." Vaal shifted gave Jihl a view of the sheen of blue crystals in her back. Balling her courage Vaal looked to Jihl with her face soaked, Jihl couldn't tell if she was crying or just wet from the shower. "There's one thing I didn't tell you. Fuck I'm sorry Jihl. The crystals, they're in the air. So we're all infected." Vaal braced herself from a punch, hesitating to open her eyes when it didn't come. Instead, Jihl had moved back in front of her. "So that's how they got in the lab?"  
Vaal nodded. "Yeah probably, it takes a long time for it to form however and there are signs."  
"Mind if I sit beside you?" Jihl said, holding her hand out underneath the water. Vaal shook her head and scooted over a tad, making room for her. Jihl's probable hyperthermia was her fault after all. Opening her mouth to speak, Jihl sat wordless for a moment before leaning back against the wall.  
"I can't leave this place." Vaal wiped her eyes, forcing a chuckle to the surface she leant against Jihl. Warmth, Vaal soaked up as much of it as she could. "I'm gonna die here alone. Never gonna see the sun either."  
"You're not alone Vaal. I'll take you, to see the sun." Biting her lip Jihl reached down and took Vaals hand in her own. Jihl rolled the thought of laying in the sand around in her mind, it made her happier than she had expected. It was always something more Fang and Lightning would do and she never pegged herself as the type. But taking something for your own, someone for your own... It was a thought she could grow accustomed to. "I'll show you the sun before you die." Jihl locked her fingers with together with Vaals.  
The woman let out a soft breath with her eyes closed as rested her head on Jihl's shoulder, gently bobbing up and down with Jihls breathing, in what seemed to be half decent sleep. She's cute when she's asleep, much more tolerable too. Jihl softly chuckled, careful not to wake her.  
"I promise." Jihl said looking down with at the lips that mouthed 'thank you' back to her.


	6. Chapter 6: Raiders of the Last Ark

Brass and Lightning - Ark part 3

Raiders of the Last Ark

 **A/N: This is now officially a Jihl fic! First off I hope you all enjoy the amount of action packed into this one and hopefully I've picked up my action game a bit and it's flows somewhat like a tangible mess. Secondly I've finally finished the overview for the rest of the fic(which is partially why this chapter took so long to get out). To which we are out of the OC forest of doom(although some characters will show up in the finale(*ahem Cliff and Rigel)) so thank you for bearing with me through all of that. The reason why I had oc's in the first place was because Jihl is a cold bad-ass and I'd already paired off most of the other characters and didn't want to mess with anyone too much to the point that even I wouldn't recognise their character. And so with this there is only three chapters left, two smallish ones and another giant like this! Given my past record they'll come out sometime eventually I'm sure! So thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.**

Jihl sighed and looked over the bolts she scrounged up on her one-hundredth walk along the upper catwalk. With an even longer sigh she turned one over in her hand, it was spotless and perfectly machined, far beyond anything she'd seen on Cocoon. Bringing her arm back she tossed it down at the courtyard, whistling as it bounced and clattered against the floor. 'And you know what? It's so surprising! There's nothing, still nothing!' Jihl thought to herself and groaned, daring not to actually shout her annoyance into the air in case something did actually happen. Ever since their first trip in here, Vaal just had them standing watch over the courtyard. Walk along the catwalk or if she got truly bored sit down next to the monitors and stare at the screens. That had started three weeks ago. Abandoning her collection of nuts and bolts, Jihl dragged herself over to the command room.

"Cliff I can't take this any more!"

Cliff spun around in his chair and shrugged, pausing his cassette tape player. "It's not that bad I mean we have the beetles, they're a Cocoonian band right?"

"Wow you're actually right you know..."

Cliff raised an eyebrow in suspicion, compliments from Nabaat? Something was wrong, desperately wrong.

Jihl threw her arms in the air and fell into the chair beside him. "It's not good either, it's nothing! All we do is look a stupid screen and nothing and hell I practically know every beetles song by now."

"It's Vaal's orders."

Jihl perked up and looked out the window over the courtyard, her eyes catching onto the banners of the coffee shop. Oh sweet sweet, hopefully premium caffeine. "And where is our captain?" Jihl spoke mischievously as she continued eyeing the coffee shop.

"Jihl, can't you just follow orders?"

The blonde grinned. "I mean I'm just taking a waltz down for some coffee. I'll be four minutes at the most."

Cliff sunk down in his chair, nobody ever listened to him, nobody. "Decaf cappuccino with soy milk, no sugar. Take the stairwell and don't fuck around."

"Please me, fuck around?" Jihl scoffed and grabbed her sword. With a faint hum she disappeared in the stairwell.

Not even two flights down and Jihl's radio buzzed with Cliff's voice. "Jihl you want to take the exit on the sixth floor. Just in case it has a big six, um it looks like a lower case b-"

"Thanks cliff, we do have sixes on Cocoon as well." Jihl radio backed and risked a peek down the centre of the stairwell. The staircase descended down seemingly forever into the fluorescent white lights. With a whistle, Jihl backed away and started again.

"Don't forget our dinner date, again."

Jihl shook her head. "What dinner date? I mean I hardly consider the cafeteria food date-worthy anyway, "

"Huh?" Cliff answered over her radio. "Jihl what are you on about?"

"Cliff don't screw around. You just radioed me about a dinner date right?"

"Nope but I'll take you up on your offer. I only heard you because I'm monitoring your radio feed for blackmail material."

Jihl shivered at the thought, good to know Cliff would hear everything she said. "Alright, well keep me posted if you hear anything else."

"And I thought Vaal was the crazy one." Cliff mumbled before his radio cut off.

Jihl frowned and took a look around, now that she thought back on it. The voice lacked Cliff's Pulsian grumble in fact it was rather...

"Ames stop hiding in the staircase. I promise not to bite this time." The woman giggled leaving Jihl stunned. Leaning over the railing Jihl frowned. "Vaal you fucker! Show your ass!" Such childish nonsense, and from her superior of all people.

"Jihl?"

With an angered pout Jihl snatched up her radio. "Cliff bugger off dammit!" Putting the radio back on her vest she stormed off down the stairs. "Stupid voices, stupid ark!" Jihl grumbled. She was rather fond of sanity. She dealt with enough crazy as it was, she did not need it in her head as well. If Vaal had infected her with crazy then there'd be hell to pay when Jihl found her.

Her hand reached out for the black pad beside the door that was surprisingly intact. With a beep and a boop and a series of mechanical clicks the door chimed.

"Welcome back Doctor Yuderris. It has been four years, three hundred and eighty-two days since your last systems access. I hope you have been... well."

Cliff looked in surprise as the high-security door just unlocked for Jihl and she walked inside without a care. Static hitting Cliff's feed hard as it shut again. "JIHL! What the hell was that? Jihl!" Looking around frantically, he groaned and looked to the feed of Vaal coming back up the stairwell.

"Major we've got a problem." Cliff said cheerily despite the murderous look Vaal was giving him, maybe problem wasn't the right word as her eyes darkened.

"Problem? Where's Jihl?" Vaal said and looked around, an exasperated sigh already building in her lungs.

"Right, Jihl." Cliff cleared his throat and diverted his attention away from the exit, he'd never make it. "She ummm well..." How did he put in a way that didn't end with him running laps, again. "Jihl entered the laboratory wing and ceased communications. Fuck!" Cliff grunted and kicked his feet as Vaal slammed him into the wall. Vaal held him with a sinister flash of teeth and a creepily joyful expression. "Right Cliff, please explain how?"

Oh god was that a tearing sound in his arm? Oh god, it was! Cliff looked over horrified at the lack of pain. "She just walked in, it called her something. I recorded it all on the terminal!"

Vaal dropped Cliff and nodded, giving him a thumbs up as she turned her wrath towards the computer. "Ah, good thinking."

"It's standard for Pulse hit squads." Pulling himself back to the chair, Cliff started mashing away at buttons. "I've got it recording all areas and radio frequencies."

"Shit goo... No way you're kidding me?"

Cliff looked over his shoulder at the stink eye the major was giving him. "Seriously all radio frequencies major, or should I say a boy named sue. Who knew you liked country music huh?"

Vaal tightened her grip on Cliff's shoulder enough to bend a small steel beam. "No one does Cliff, no one."

"Yes ma'am." Cliff nodded and quickly loaded up the footage.

Staring into her eyes, Cliff sat in discomfort. Her eyes didn't even flicker with a trace of emotion as she watched the footage. Actually, the brown was kinda weird, as if it had flecks of an unnatural blue to them. His eyes widened as Vaal kicked his chair, it's plastic wheels screeching before it slammed into the wall. "Cliff call the others and find out who the hell Doctor Yuderris is."

Vaal looked up as the door slid open and the two other members stepped through, rubbing her eyes in pain as she and Cliff had sifted through the personal files on the terminal for an hour. "Please tell me you two are having better luck?"

Fang shook her head. "Nope, no mention of a doctor Yuderris."

"Cliff did she say anything else?"

"Nope, you heard it all. Oh wait she said she was hearing voices so she's batshit crazy.

"Grrr!" Vaal balled up her fist and contemplated punching the damned terminal. "Fuck it let's go see if the door is still open. Cliff, woman down the fort."

Cliff sank back in his chair. "What! And why me? I can kick ass too."

"And you're the nerdy tech guy so cover us from the cameras. Fang, Rigel let's go get that idiot back."

Yuderris sighed as the door closed behind her. She couldn't fight the inevitable forever. That wasn't to say she hadn't tried, in fact she was rather successful. For a week and four days she'd managed to avoid any contact with the Security Chief. Unfortunately and somewhat to her annoyance, any live testing required her approval and a detachment of guards be on station in case of any complications. Having just got out of the morning meeting made her day just the absolute worst, her team had just wonderfully pushed her schedule a whole a week ahead with their damned breakthrough regarding the problems they were having.

So now dressed in her imposing, flawless white lab-coat she stormed down the hallway. Her colleagues giving her a small nod before retreating somewhere safer, anywhere safer. Eyeing the clipboard in a half-hearted attempt to make the document on it burst into flames so she could at least get a few more moments as she went to get another one, she groaned. This whole thing was all that stupid woman's fault anyway, why was she the one who had to suffer? Beneath the glare that made even the security team in their imposing suits of armour back down from the scientist, Yuderris scowled with blushes across her cheeks. Choco, choco... urgh. The words repeated themselves in her mind for the thousandth time this week, no this morning. Of all the things that idiot could have mumbled it had to be that. Now every time Yuderris saw the feathered character on her undergarments she was reminded of that idiot. Rubbing her eyes, she somewhat regretted not crushing her skull between her thighs for corrupting the innocent cute feathered animal.

"Ames can you pick me up a coffee please"

"What am I? Your damn assistant?" Yuderris snarled back at the woman who chuckled back over the radio.

"Well you do run around after me a lot." Pritchard said as smugly as possible. "Speaking of which I heard that you've got a document for me."

"I wish I hadn't." Yuderris chimed back and returned to scowling at the document. Combust, combust, combust, she chanted in her mind over and over but despite her efforts, the paper refused to ignite.

The door behind her slammed open with a loud bang. Turning around Yuderris eyed the woman storming down the hall. The blonde was dressed in a militaristic fashion similar to the guards who were off duty. She sported a grey tank top with a harness and a pair of baggy cargo pants that were secured by a plain black belt.

"Jihl what the hell are you doing dumbass?" The woman shouted and marched towards her.

Yuderris looked around for this 'Jihl' and squirmed as the blonde locked eyes with her, proceeding angrily towards her. Thank god, Yuderris thought as the two security guards blocked the woman's path.

With a short grunt the blonde twisted the security guard, combat armour and all around her, and followed up with her knife, spilling his blood over the floor before in one swift motion and his body fell limp to the ground.

The other guard drew his gun, but not fast enough. With one swift movement, the knife danced its way under his chin and into his skull.

Yuderris shivered, gripped by fear. The other guard fell lifelessly at the woman's feet and the woman stepped over them, continuing towards her. Dropping her clipboard Yuderris turned and bolted, nearly tripping in the stupid high heels that she now regretted wearing. With her breath staggered, she dove through a door and slammed it shut, just in time as the blonde slammed against and cursed.

"Jihl! Open the bloody door! What's going on with you? Jihl!"

Yuderris fell back as the blonde woman assaulted the door, the mass of metal groaning under her blows. "Amberly get down here now. Please. Hurry!"

"Ames? What's going on?"

Yuderris scurried and hid behind a desk and hugged her knees. "There's a woman and the guards, she, she stabbed them and now they're dead and she's coming after me and I don't know what to do and..."

"Whoa! Calm down alright, I'm on my way. Just stay hidden until I get there."

Yuderris managed a deep breath and winced as the pounding at the door continued. "Alright. Calm. Keep calm." She whispered to herself.

"Jihl. Please come out, it's not safe here." Vaal sighed and pressed her head against the door. It was tougher than it looked that's for sure. "Fang, Rigel, fall back to the entranceway. We've made a lot more noise than I wanted to so be ready to split."

"Yes ma'am." Fang nodded and the duo doubled back towards the stairwell, eyeing the two dead cieth near the entrance.

Looking around Vaal bit down on her lip as she tried to find another way inside. Of all the rooms she had to choose the one that didn't have any big glass windows like the other ones in the hall did. It must be some sort of-

'Fuck!' Vaal gulped and staggered back quickly from the crystal blade stabbed just inches in front of her face. Drawing her knife and rolling underneath the monsters follow-up attack, she grinned from ear to ear. It was about time this thing showed up. "Fang, Rigel fall back to the door, now." Vaal called out and smiled at the thing standing in front of her. It was the most human-like cieth she had encountered, the creature body resembled mostly a woman's body, except for the crystals that jutted out of its skin and formed a suit of armour. It's dark blue lips tugged into a smile at the sight of the blonde and with a chilling voice, it spoke.

"You again? So you managed to crawl back from the hole you came from. Ooh it's a shame you're friends weren't so lucky."

"YOU! I'll tear your bloody throat out!" Vaal screamed and shot forth, her boots rapidly sounding against the hallway floor as she closed the distance between them and swung her knife, the blade catching on the creature's cheek before Vaal rolled back into a defensive stance.

With a short huff, the creature shook it's head and laughed. "Very well then, say hello to them for me." In three short steps, the creature was at Vaal's face, her black eyes staring into Vaal's. Her right hand came around and out of the air a sword appeared, that's what had caught her team by surprise the first time. Vaal rolled to the side, just narrowly, the sword missed her head and sliced through the wall. Throwing her knife for the creature's heart did nothing as it pierced her chest and stuck out of her back and didn't even slow her down as she pinned Vaal to the wall with her knee. The Crystal spikes on her knee guards extended out towards her throat. "Well," The creature pulled the knife out and eyed the small trace of blood running down its length. "You did better than the rest of your team, I'll give you that. But come near my wife, threaten my wife... I'm going to make this long! I promise I'll make it-."

"Amberly!" The door slid open and Yuderris stood in the doorway.

The creature, Amberly, rolled her eyes and nodded, dropping the knife before she started removing parts of Vaal. "Of course. Well little cockroach consider yourself lucky." Amberly frowned, disappointed at not being able to finally kill the pest. With a short puff of air, she slammed Vaal's head into the wall and let her fall to the ground unconscious. "What about the other two?"

"The other two?" Yuderris tilted her head and followed Amberly's gaze to the end of the hallway, to Fang and Rigel.

Fang looked at the growing mass of Cie'th that spilt out into the hallway, there had to be a dozen, maybe two. "Rigel?"

"Yep, let's get the hell out of here."

"Good." Fang said in relief and hurried out the doorway.

"Take her down to holding." Amberly said to the five security guards standing behind her. Her men nodded and dragged Vaal's unconscious body off. "I want a squad of soldiers to flush the stairwell. Shoot on sight if necessary."

"Yes ma'am." The guard saluted and gathered the others.

"Amberly!" Amberly staggered back as Yuderris threw her arms around her. Nearly sending both her and the red-head toppling into the wall. "Thank god you're here."

"It's safe now. Are you okay?" Yuderris nodded and looked over to the guards being put in body bags, her grip on Amberly tightening.

"She killed them both, like they were nothing." Yuderris shuddered as the memory flickered in her mind. Her lips frowned as she noticed the blood-spattered document on the floor. Bending over to pick the document up, Yuderris stared at the bloody hallway and the crystal monsters picking up other monsters off the floor. "Cieth." Her lips muttered before her vision snapped back to reality and the pair of golden eyes holding hers with worry.

"Amelia? Are you alright?" Amberly knelt beside her and held her shoulders. "Right, that's it young lady. You are taking the rest of the day off."

"Huh? But what about the experiment?"

Amberly shrugged and helped her to her feet. "While you're shaken up like a can of lemonade? I don't want you setting foot on the whole floor let alone the damn laboratory." With that, the red-head snatched the clipboard from Amelia and grinned. "Plus I'm still waiting for that coffee. For your safety however I recommend that you're escorted for the duration of the journey."

Amelia crossed her arms and reached for the clipboard being kept out of her reach. "Fine. I'm guessing I already know who will escort me?"

"Of course, you are the brains of the relationship. I also need to make sure that you get the right order of coffee. You know I have very 'interesting' tastes." Amberly chuckled, her mouth silently forming the words 'choco choco...'

With an annoyed grunt, the scientist fixed her hair and stormed off. "Very well then, escort me miss Pritchard." Yuderris grumbled on her way to the elevators.

With a spring in her step, Amberly darted after her. "Hey I was joking! Ames..."

Amelia turned around with her face set in a serious expression. "She called out for Jihl."

"Jihl?" Amberly turned her head, not exactly sure what that had to do with anything. Given the frustrated sigh she received. "Important?"

"Amberly do you even read the reports I give you?"

"Some of them. I mean with the long boring ones I just scribble on 'em." Amberly chuckled at the soft punch she received from her colleague. "So Jihl is? You know I suck at the pronoun game."

Amelia balled up her fists. "Jihl is my clone. The only one to successfully come out of the operation, however..."

"Oh the teeny bopper!" Amberly clicked her fingers, a bit too excited. "The one that raided my candy stash."

Amelia hit the woman over the back of the head and waved her fist in anger. "THAT TEENY BOPPER IS OUR DAUGHTER!" With an audible grunt in anguish, Amelia dug her fingers into her temples. "and that was my stash!" The blonde narrowed her eyes in rage as she shuffled into the elevator.

Amberly nudged her in the side and winked. "Well who needs sweets and when you can just eat me? Or I could eat you?"

The elevator doors chimed and opened silently to one of the lower courtyards. The ark's staff despite the incident, were still bustling about between the stalls. A few stopped to notice the head of the scientific department moving through the crowd with cheeks redder than the red-headed chief of security grinning as she walked behind her.

"I want Jihl moved to your quarters." Amelia said and took a sip of her coffee.

"Sure."

"And keep that woman under surveillance at all times. I wanna know how she knew about Jihl."

Amberly took her coffee and nodded, an air of seriousness forming around her. "Of course. I'll get to it right away."

Vaal rocked back and forth on her chair and eyed the Cieth standing guard at the door. It was scary how organised they had become. She was presumably on the lower levels and what she'd manage to see while be dragged through the hallways, the Cieth were organised. Cameras, guards, patrols, security checkpoints. "Hey can you turn that tap off?" Leaning back to the right, the chair creaked. With a grin, she glared at the guards and creaked the chair as much as possible. The guards black swirling eyes flickered her over from underneath the jagged masks of crystal, but no one budged from their spot. At least until the door opened and Amberly stepped through.

Vaal could feel the blood boil in her veins just at the sight of the red-headed monster. The chair groaning as Vaal struggled to rip herself out of it and attack her again. "You!"

"Yes, me. Security Chief Pritchard, head of Ark security. Stop it before I bash more of your brains out." Amberly rolled her eyes as Vaal decided not to heed her warning and continued struggling. Amberly ignored her and grabbed the metal chair sitting against the wall and dragged it back over with a loud jarring screech. "Let's get this over with alright? I have other things I wanna do." Amberly sighed as she slumped down in the chair across from her. "Name?"

Vaal smiled. "I'm the janitor, Sanchez."

"Pfft Janitor, that's a new one. Do you work for Whitman?"

Vaal managed to keep her poker face, tilting her head she played dumb. "Whitman? Lemme guess crazy ex-boyfriend of yours?"

"Pretty much Miss Sanchez, the janitor. So why are you here again?"

"A friend of mine got lost and I was just looking for her."

"And the guards."

"I was frightened. I no speak English."

"You killed two trained guards because you were frightened? You might be in the wrong profession Miss Sanchez."

Vaal shrugged. "Maybe but I know how to use a broom, some people say cleaning up after other people's mess was a talent I was born with."

The door opened and Amelia's heels clicked as the chief scientist entered the room. "How is it going?"

Amberly smiled and looked over her shoulder. "Well we were quite simply mistaken Doctor. Miss Sanchez here, the janitor, was lost."

Amelia fought back a chuckle, covering her mouth at the outburst. "Sorry. A janitor?"

Vaal looked at Amelia, there was no mistaking those olive green eyes or that face. Vaal had made the effort to burn the image of Jihl's face deep into her mind. Vaal shot up and groaned as her handcuffs cut into her wrists. "Jihl."

Amelia frowned and looked to Amberly, very confused. The security chief shrugged. "What could you possibly want with a little girl?"

"Little girl?" Now it was Vaal's turn to look and raise a brow in confusion.

"Yes, Jihl, she's a little girl that is kept on station."

"Actually I was after you, Jihl Nabaat."

"Sorry you must be mistaken. We don't have any other staff in the science wards under that name, Pritchard?" The security chief shook her head. Amelia grabbed the name tag and held it out for Vaal to see. "I am Doctor Amelia Yuderris, interesting. Why did you think I was Jihl?"

"Because you are. You just, brain stuff or something, I dunno. You were Jihl this morning when I left you in my bed." Vaal huffed and ceased her frantic rambling. Falling back into her chair she stared at Pritchard sitting across from her. "You know what, Screw it. I'm talking to Cieth." Vaal took a deep breath and dug her fingers into her temples, with a groan she continued. "Yes I am stationed under Colonel Whitman, he's leading an expedition to recover the Ark. I am Major Sanchez and I lead a strike team. It's been abandoned since some time during the war and overrun with Cieth. Jihl, Amelia Yuderris or whatever the hell you're calling yourself was apart of my team until earlier this morning, or yesterday maybe, but when she snapped and changed to Amelia. Does any of that jog your memory? Any of it at all?"

"Uhh, thank you. Give us a moment." Amelia grabbed Amberly's hand and rushed her out of the room.

Vaal scoffed and laughed. "I mean it's not like I can go for a walk can I?"

The guards in the room stiffened as their captain exited the room. "Well well boys we're all alone. How many do you think I can kill before you get me? Four? Five..."

Amelia frowned as she radio downed to the labs. "Hey Donelly. No there's no problem, well there is sort of a problem. Can you check and make sure all the cloning equipment is all shut down? Yes I would like a hold on all experiments for the moment. Thanks you. Yeah, I'll explain later."

Amberly looked up from where she was leaning on the wall. "How did they take it?"

"Well they're gonna make sure the labs are all off-line until this gets sorted. Speaking of which, what do we do with her?" Yuderris frowned and looked at Vaal who was trying her best to overturn the chair and somehow escape the cuffs that bound her. "I would like to get a scan of her brain."

"Yeah that'd be a sight to see, and a scan of your brain if she's telling the truth."

"Crap, crap, crap!" Vaal called out as the chair slammed into the ground. "My back!"

Amberly frowned at the idiot squirming on the floor. "Well I'm gonna talk to her about Whitman, that scumbag needs to pay for what he did."

"What he did?" Amelia cocked her head and looked to Amberly unsure of what 'what' was.

"It's uhh..." Amberly groaned and put her fingers to her temple, images of blood and gore forcing their way into her mind. "It's nothing. Just tired I guess. We'll keep her in containment until she's safe to let go. If she is a soldier I'd rather not shoot her."

"Yes it was hard enough to get you here in the first place, I doubt I could get a traitor positioned here no matter what strings I pull." Amelia grinned as she took Amberly's hand in hers. "Right well I'm going to check stuff. I'll see to you later in your quarters?"

Amberly blushed and looked away. "Uhh," The security chief managed to swallow. "Right, be careful. Amelia. Do you want a guard or something?"

Amelia shook her head. "No thanks, I mean they weren't of much use. I guess someone's been slacking on training."

Amberly opened her mouth to protest but stopped, she'd been training just with someone else, on something else. Her blushes grew as did the temptation that override her security protocols. Biting her lip she smiled, "Meow Meow choco ch-"

Amelia covered her ears and hurried off. "Idiot, idiot, idiot!"

The door opened again and Amberly emerged again, however this time with a group of medical staff following behind her. The medical staff set down their boxes and things and worryingly began digging through them, producing needles, data pads and a whole assortment of increasingly worrying instruments

Vaal eyed them nervously, eyed the large needles nervously as she turned to Amberly who was sitting down in front of her. "What's that for? Giving me a blood test?"

"Yes actually. Doctor Yuderris is concerned that your theory may have a thread of tangibility." Amberly dug through her pocket and sat the packet of cigarettes on the table. "You know I used to enjoy smoking outside, just watching the rolling Valley of green hills and forests. It was my favourite part of the morning, escaping all of this," But your soldiers, your people treat us like monsters. So," Amberly held her hand out for the notepad and pen one of the assistants held. Leaning forward Amberly put the items on the table and slid them across. "draw me a monster."

"So what am I looking at?" Amelia asked, setting down the pile of drawings of Cieth that Amberly had just delivered.

"Well I asked Vaal to draw the people in the room with her. They're nearly all Cie'th except for me, sort of. Here." Amberly dug though the pile and pulled out the drawing Vaal did of her. The Cie'th on the paper resembled Amberly, a lot albeit some physical additions to her appearance.

Amelia stared at the paper in silence for a moment. It definitely bore a striking resemblance to the woman and it wasn't a grotesque collection of flesh and crystal like the other drawings. "Did the techs get anything from the blood samples?"

"Uhh right her blood was, strange. It looked fine at first for the first dozen tests they ran but when we DNA sampled it there were chunks of weird stuff in there. I asked them to send the results to the labs."

"Weird chunks, I love working with you." Amelia scoffed and took up her third cup of coffee for the night. "Alright well if we can I want to move that brain scan to lunchtime."

Amberly nodded, "Alright I'll send word and get a floor cleared in case anything happens. So who's gonna do the scan?"

"I am."

Amberly paused and stared at her partner for a moment, the blonde was dead serious about it too. "You are? After she tried and nearly killed you?"

"Yes. She said that I was apart of her team so according to her she and I have some sort of connection. With that said, I believe it's most likely I'm the one best able to coax information out of her, that and I don't trust the others to do it."

Amberly rubbed her brows and gave up fighting her. "Fine, but I want a security detail there with you, including me."

Vaal stared at the redhead monster tapping her foot anxiously in beside her. "So lemme get this straight Pritchard. None of you monsters can see each other as monsters?"

Amberly shook her head. "No everyone looks perfectly human to me and I have guards questioning people about it but nothing has come up yet. So we want to question your men but it must be done without Whitman knowing."

Vaal cocked a brow at the woman. "Right, what is it with you two? Aren't you on the same side?"

Amberly snarled and slumped against the wall. "I just.. There's something about him that I don't like."

"Huh, you mean other than selling Ark secrets to Cocoon and betraying his country?"

Amberly kept her eyes locked on the ground, muttering quietly to herself before the elevator doors opened and pulled her back to reality. "Yeah something like that. Well come on, be a good girl and I might take those cuffs off."

"Ooh you promise? Wait do you and Doctor Amelia use handcuffs?" Vaals lips curled into a smirk at the sight of blushes on the woman's cheeks. "Aww that's so sweet! So does she use cuffs on you or..."

"Shut up and move, now. I'm only putting up with you for as long as I have to" Amberly gave Vaal's shoulder a rough shove and pushed her out of the elevator.

"I can radio my men down whenever. This Ark of yours blocks our radio transmissions so no one on the outside knows what happens down here."

"Good but do you trust them?" Amberly asked as she swiped her id card over the lock on the door. With an electronic beep the colour changed to green and the door opened.

"Yeah I've served with them all, well except for Jihl but we don't have to worry about her." Vaal gestured to the blonde moving around a large machine.

"Alright. We'll bring them down after all this is wrapped up. Oh and if you try anything-"

Vaal rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah you'll tear me apart or whatever. Honestly I'd be more than happy to give it another shot."

Amberly grabbed Vaal by the collar and flashed her teeth. "I swear if you even try anything..."

Vaal reared her head and slammed it against Amberly's face, probably not the best idea considering the layer of crystal armour surrounding her. "Hey! Don't forget she's my girlfriend too!"

Amberly tightened her grip around Vaal's collar. "Whaa- You wanna go right now you cockney little-"

"Ahem! Ladies..." The blonde smiled at the two women and sat her clipboard down. " I'm glad to see you didn't tear each other apart on the way here. Amberly are you be able to stay?"

Pritchard nodded she took Amelia's hands. "Mmm of course. You really think I'd leave you alone with her? Decker can handle things for an hour."

"Alright well I need you all to remain outside. Patient confidentiality and its nerve wracking having so many guards watching me." Amelia looked to the eight guards standing with their rifles ready.

"Fine they can wait outside but I'm staying, is that alright?"

"Alright just sit back please."

Amberly nodded and waved to her men who quickly moved outside. Before she stepped back Amberly pulled Amelia close and into a kiss.

Vaal bit her lip and stepped over to the bed. "Oi lovebirds can you just zap me in the brain already and get this over with." The woman grumbled and forced herself to look away as her somewhat girlfriend kissed a crystal monster.

"Oh right, sorry. Ahem-" Amelia hurried back to her clipboard. "If you can remove your gear and lay down on the bed please."

"Ooh want me naked already? You knew if ya wanted to see my boobs so much you should have asked earlier." Vaal teased as she began removing her clothes. Amelia rolled her eyes and stared down at her clipboard as the garments hit the floor. Looking back up she gasped, covering her mouth at the sight of Cie'th crystals jutting out of Vaal's back. "Oh god!" Before she knew it Amberly was beside her and ready to pounce.

"What are... Cie'th crystals?" Amelia stepped forward and held her hand out, looking to Vaal who nodded and turned so the scientist could get a better view of the crystals. The skin on her back was discoloured around where they pushed out and smaller shards were spreading, starting to break through her skin. Scribbling down some notes on her pad, Amelia gently pressed her fingers to them. They looked the same as the ones on the disfigured Cie'th from the cloning process however unlike those Cie'th, these crystals were flush with warmth, quietly humming with life. "How did you get these?" She asked and scribbled down some more notes.

Vaal thrust her thumb over towards Amberly. "It was when we met freakazoid for the first time. We got ambushed by Cie'th and somebody's grenade went off. Every around him got pin-cushioned with crystals and I guess I lucked out. I just got my back riddled with shards and one of them pierced through my spine. The doc couldn't take it out so they left it in." Vaal's grin stretched from ear to ear. "I can still use all my downstairs though." Vaal grinned proudly before she shuddered at the feeling of Amelia's fingers tracing down over her back.

"Sorry, does it hurt?"

Vaal shook her head. "No, they're just, really sensitive."

"Alright... Umm can you manage to lay down now please.

Amelia bit her thumb as she watched the brain activity on the monitor flare as the machine started. "Hmm. Your brain looks perfectly normal. Could you tell me about the time when you met Amberly."

Vaal looked over her shoulder to the scientist. "Freakazoid? Sure."

An hour passed as Vaal spoke, putting to air her memories of the operation. The field of tents that had been the original camp, housing just over four hundred soldiers. Most of which were actually there as a wilderness training operation. The massacre that wiped out over half the troops in the first encounter and Vaal had been amidst it all. Just a corporal back then but it didn't matter to anyone. Under orders from the surviving CO, the troops pushed onwards. Wrangling through stray groups of Cie'th, a dozen or so that was no match for the platoon of soldiers. Their progress was stunning, they were moving faster then they had expected after the first skirmish. Breaking through into one of the plaza's and having only lost nine soldiers along the way they stopped to regroup. That was when it all went to hell. The group was ambushed by freakazoid herself.

Amberly yawned as she walked over. "Hey I'm gonna duck out for a bit and get some coffee. You want me to call the others back in?"

Amelia shook her head and looked up from her clipboard. "No thanks, I'm enjoying not having a dozen soldiers behind me."

"Alright." Amberly reached around and unclipped her handgun from her belt. "But here just in case."

Amelia hesitated but took it in the end, setting it down in her desk. "Alright thanks. Wanna pick me up something to bite while your out?"

"Sure, You feeling pizza or spaghetti?"

Amelia shuddered at the thought. "Italian again? Can we do Chinese tonight? I'm pretty sure they have a Mr Po on this level."

Vaal kicked her legs and the monitor beeped at the sudden surge of data. "Mr Po! Chinese food? Oi freakazoid! Get me Chinese food alright luv! I promise I'll be good, I'll wear handcuffs all day!"

"She has been co-operative." Amelia added while moving over to note down the flood of data on the monitor.

Amberly shot Vaal glare and finally gave in with a nod. "Alright she has been tolerable. You got any preference tonight?"

"The usual." Amelia said and powered down the machine. "Well your brain looks fine Vaal."

"So everything not nailed down." Amberly smiled and kissed Amelia on the cheek before she left the room.

"Aww thanks." Vaal responded and tapped her feet as the bed slowly exited the machine. "Oh heck yeah." Vaal through her arms suddenly up in the air, prompting Amelia to reach for the gun. Noticing the tension of the scientist, Vaal slowly lowered her arms and gestured to the handcuffs around her wrists. "Don't worry I've still got these on. Hey just curious, why do you work for Pulse? I mean you look Cocoonian."

"My parents-" Amelia shut her eyes and repressed her feelings back underneath her lab-coat. "I was born and raised her on Pulse. I have no relatives and I've never been to Cocoon. Pulse is my home."

Amelia stepped out from behind her desk with the gun in hand, just in case and took a seat across from Vaal.

"Do you know how to use that?" Vaal asked as she began to stretch out the cramps in her back.

"No, not really." Came Amelia's reply. Giving the gun another look over she turned her attention to Vaal. "Vaal I'm going to set it down."

"Please do, I may have super monster powers but I ain't bulletproof, yet. Oh don't forget to check the safety is on."

Amelia nodded and sat the gun down gently by her feet. "Thank you. I would rather leave firearms to Amberly."

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea." Vaal shifted on the examination bed, still in the nude. "Hey can I put my clothes back on?"

Amelia's face went bright red when she looked up to see Vaal still sitting in the nude. "Y-yes of course." Amelia stood up and turned around, earning a snicker from the major as she pulled her clothes back on. "I'm sorry. I honestly forgot."

"Ouch, that's a first." Vaal playfully winced as she sat back down. "So will you be joining us tomorrow?"

"Hmm?" Amelia crooked her head.

"Well we are going to meet up with our- my squad get them checked out."

Amelia nodded. "Yes I would love to meet the men under your command."

"Don't get too excited, they're the laziest bunch of scrubs I've had so far." Vaal chuckled and grabbed her pants, digging through the pockets. " Hey Amelia..." Vaal for the first time let her nervousness show. "You got a fag? I could use a bloody smoke."

Amelia chuckled and managed a frown. "Vaal I am a doctor," Standing up she went to her desk and grabbed the pack. "I'd be a giant ball of stress and depression without them."

Vaal happily took one of the cancer sticks between her lips. "So what Amberly showed me, what she told me... Is it true."

The air grew heavier with tension as Amelia sat back down, taking a cigarette of her own. "It is. At first we thought that they were just transporting the documents to the ministry, the higher-ups didn't want to move the documents electronically, in case they got intercepted electronically by Cocoon. But then when they asked where your documents were well..." Amelia's little silver Lighter bust to life. "Whitman"

Vaal scrunched up her face and balled her hand into a fist. "When I get top-side I'm gonna put a bullet between that bastards eyes." Vaal grumbled and took an angry puff of her cigarette, quickly letting that anger out as she slumped back in her chair. "God these are good."

 _The next day_

"Here, put this on." Vaal said to Amberly, holding out a black baseball cap.

"Why?" Amberly growled and took the cap, her unwillingness growing at she saw the font at the front, it was an 'orphans' cap. "No. I'm not wearing a god damn Orphans cap. They're the worst baseball team ever. God knows how they even still manage to play."

"What's wrong with the orphans?" Vaal pouted, upset that Amberly was trash talking the Old City Orphans which just so happened to be her favourite team. The Old City Orphans did after all hire Vincent Valentine, he was no Tidus 'star player of the Zanakand Abes' but he was the best batter Pulse had ever seen, and you'd never see him coming.

Amberly huffed, puffing up her chest and crossed her arms. "Well obviously the Archylte Titans are the better team. They won six grand finals this decade and ooh what's that, the Zanarkand Abes wiped the floor with you in the other four."

"Grr thats just because you have Barten Dallis. He's your only good player you-" The elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Amelia stepped inside and took her place between them. "So..."

"Baseball. The Titans vs the orphans." Amberly said amused and stepped back.

Amelia let out a giggle as she tucked her clipboard under her side. "I'm sorry it's just the Titans vs the Orphans? I mean they're okay..."

Vaal pushed herself onto her feet and glared menacingly at the scientist. "Whatdya mean 'okay'?"

"Well it's just you know. The Paddra Penguins-"

The elevator doors opened onto silence, Vaal glaring holes in the corner, she made a very important point to bring up the question of baseball when or if Jihl ever came back to normal, the penguins! Vaal rolled her eyes at the thought. Shooting her arm out, Vaal took the first step towards the door. "I should pop out first."

Amberly nodded and stepped back. "Alright, your team has been confined to the maintenance room at the top of the stairwell. Ames I want you to stay here until we send for you, we don't know how Vaal's team will react."

Vaal shrugged, "It'll be fine, she is our Jihl after all."

Stepping out Vaal cast her glance down the hallway where she was first captured and stepped out, now at ease at the sight of four guards standing in the hallway.

Amberly was right behind her as they moved down the hallway. "Any sign of the outsiders?"

The guard closest to the door shook his head. "No ma'am." He saluted and opened the door for the duo. "They're still up in the maintenance room."

Vaal looked the soldier up and down. "You're afraid of me?" She said taken back by the monster before her.

"No man, m-ma'am." The soldier stuttered nervously and shifted away from her. Amberly's hand on her shoulder got Vaal moving again.

"Alright man killer, keep going. These people might seem like monsters to you but you did kill two heavily armed guards with just a knife." Amberly shuffled out behind Vaal into the stairwell, waving down the guard who had his rifle trained on Vaal.

"Oi Amberly..."

"Yes?" Amberly looked down the dimly lit shaft of the stairwell. Most personnel used the elevators to move around, the stairwell was only used in emergencies and maintenance crews.

"After we get this done. I want to check the Cie'th machine."

Amberly laughed. "Cie'th machine? You mean the genetic assembly chamber?"

"Yeah, the Cie'th machine. My mission still stands. I need to see it and bring back evidence that it is disabled, just to be safe."

"Well if Whitman is in charge then its probably him planning something again, but alright. After we link up with your crew we'll head down." Amberly stopped at the secured door to the maintenance terminal. Taking her id card, she pressed it to the scanner. "You're right though, there shouldn't be Cie'th on base. If there are it means something went horribly wrong."

The door beeped and unlocked. Vaal wasted no time in moving through, her ears to the ground as the metallic crunch of her boots pressed forward. There was no one here. Vaal stopped and swallowed hard. The feeling of a gun suddenly pressed into her side. In front of her, Fang and Rigel stepped out into the open with their rifles trained on her.

Cliff's eyes looked her up and down for any visual signs of change. "Major?"

"Nice to see you too Cliff. You kept everyone safe I see."

Cliff nodded and nudged Vaal to the towards the centre of the room. "You're still you right? No crystal monster brain control?"

"Sure am luv. Well nearly, missing my gear and cigarettes. They didn't want me walking around with my kit unfortunately."

Cliff looked to the thing, the woman, standing casually in the doorway behind Vaal with the major's baseball cap draped over her crystalline face. Her mouth opened and let out a quiet wail that assaulted his ears.

"Pritchard hold off on the limb ripping, we're here to talk to them remember. Wait can you actually brainwash people?" Vaal looked over her shoulder and chuckled as the creature wailed again, whatever they were saying neither Cliff, Rigel or Fang understand a word of it.

"You can understand that thing?" Cliff asked, keeping his gun firmly pressed into Vaal's side.

"You can't?"

Cliff shook his head.

"Well I guess I'll be doing all the talking then. Speaking of which we need to talk, about Whitman." Vaal eased as Cliff removed the gun from her side and gave her his full attention.

"Alright I'm listening."

Vaal turned back to Amberly and held her arm out of for the folder of documents, giving them to Cliff who took a moment to look over them. His mouth twisted into a grin that overflowed with excitement.

"You know what this means Vaal." Cliff snapped the folder shut and handed it back to her. "I can finally get my ass out of here. Funtime has been after Whitman for a long, long time. Next up baby, New Bodhum and beach babes."

"Funtime?" Fang asked, glad to let her gun fall by her side. Approaching she gave the woman a salute before standing at ease, or as easy as she could with a Cie'th a few feet away. "It's good to have you back and not brainwashed major. So what's Funtime?"

Cliff looked at everyone gathered in the room before speaking. "Funtime is an internal investigations group. We're sort of like the GP except we're not officially recognised and we don't have military backing, technically we are a civilian organisation. Our job is to make sure the different groups around Pulse are playing nice and having fun together hence the name." Cliff looked at the approaching Amberly who took the cap off, prompting him to step back and let his hand linger over his sidearm. "So wanna explain that?"

"Right well I don't know half the details but it seems that a majority of the staff have become Cie'th but they retain their memories and everything." Vaal frowned as she got an earful from Amberly. "Alright, I'll get to it. So the staff are taking blood samples to try and determine whether we're affected somehow or if they really are Cie'th. After that they've promised to take us down to the Cie'th machine thing."

Cliff didn't hide his unease at letting monsters jab him with needles. "If they must. There's also one other problem. In case you forget Whitman is still in charge of the military detachment here."

"So it's four thousand to what five of us?" Fang grinned from ear to ear and heaved her spear over her shoulder. "Those odds ain't that bad."

Rigel rolled his eyes and gave her a shove in the arm. "Some us are married, Fang."

The other trio couldn't help but laugh, even Amberly in her less than human state managed a rather human-like and adorable giggle. "Well regarding that-" Cliff started and met Amberly's gaze. "I might be able to help. In anticipation of Whitman's corruption, the Funtime Brigade managed to get a sizeable force gathered not too far away. If we can get a message to them then-"

"We can't." Amberly cut him off. "Our communications array was sabotaged and we haven't been able to get topside to repair it."

"Hmm." Cliff pressed a finger to his chin and thought. "Well is there another way out? If I could contact them directly then we'd be able to get here within a day, two at most."

"Yes that would be possible. There is an emergency escape tunnel in the case of a system-wide failure. It leads a far way out from the camp above us." Amberly reached down for her radio. "I can arrange for-"

The automated system suddenly cut her off with a blaring siren. "Warning. Unauthorised entry detected in sub level four, sub-level five and sub level seven."

"Crap! Vaal you better get your people moving, we both know who that would be." Amberly reached down for her radio and started barking commands to the person on the person on the other end. "I'll have a security team meet you in the stairwell. The tunnel is on the lowest level so take the stairs all the way down."

Vaal nodded. "Well, you heard the woman. Cliff take Rigel with you and go unFUBAR this mess. Fang, Amberly and I will proceed to the lower levels and secure the facility."

"Uhh sure..." Cliff hadn't heard what the 'woman' had said, never the less he pulled his gear tight and hurried into the stairwell with Rigel on his tail.

Amberly nodded and looked to Vaal. "Alright Vaal, Fang, let's move Amelia into a secure area first and then we'll take the elevator down to the lowest level and work out way up. Securing the Cie'th machine should be our top priority."

"Yeah but first, can I get my bloody gear back?" Vaal huffed, somewhat unprepared to fight off an invasion with her bare hands.

Amelia took her handgun and gave it to her. "Here this will have to do for now, don't make me regret it. We'll stop by the armoury on the way if we can."

Amberly smiled as she left Amelia in the company of her soldiers, two dozen to be exact. "Now Ames, once you get to my quarters, lock down the door and don't open it for anybody."

"Got it." Amelia said and nodded to just to be doubly sure.

Amberly huffed, trying to rid herself of the tension that showed all over her face. "And there's a suit of combat gear and a shotgun in the wardrobe if you need them, and I love you."

"I know, I love you too. Be careful and come back in one piece okay." Amelia said, giving Amberly's hand a squeeze before the elevator doors began to close.

"Yes ma'am." Amberly gave the scientist a salute and watched the doors shut, not a moment later the elevator began its descent. Amberly stepped back and let herself lean against the wall, taking a deep breath as she watched the floor number go down. Fang looked over to Vaal who was muttering to herself and smiled before turning her attention to her gear, giving it another look over.

The trio broke from their pre-battle rituals, their focus going to the doors as the elevator began to slow, eventually crawling to a halt at the destined floor. With a loud ping, the door's pulled open. Soldiers dressed from head to toe in heavy armour were ready, drowning the elevator and it's occupants in a storm of bullets, that Amberly only just managed to avoid, one of the rounds tearing through her shirt and grazing her arm. Vaal edged herself closer to the doors and peered out at their attackers. She counted five soldiers, all entrenched in doorways.

Fang reached down to her belt and held the smoke grenade up for Vaal to see. The major shook her head, "Not yet, I don't wanna waste it on these losers. Instead can you give me covering fire so I can break out and stir up some shit?"

"Yes ma'am." Fang nodded stuck her rifle around the corner and began blind firing, the moment she did, Vaal dropped low and sprinted out behind some sturdy crates a few feet from the door. Amberly wasted no time in moving up to the doors and adding her rifle to the counter gunfire.

Vaal slammed up against the crate and hunkered down as her makeshift cover was pelted by bullets, thankfully whatever material it was made out of was able to hold firm. Leaning around the side Vaal took aim and shot back, targeting a soldier's exposed ankle. The man grunted and fell off balance giving Vaal a nice shot of his shoulder and then his head, all of her shots landed and the man fell dead just a short burst of gunfire later. Looking back to Fang and Amberly, Vaal waved and signalled for another round of covering fire. Under the safety of her allies rifles, Vaal sprinted as fast as she could, narrowly dodging bullet's that whizzed by her and weaved into the doorway where the dead soldier had been. Her new position gave her an excellent view of the soldier across from her and before he could shoot, four bullets had already found their way into his body, three in the chest and one in the head. With two of the soldiers dead, the others faltered long enough for Vaal to reach down and replace her weapon with the dead soldiers rifle before they started shooting at her. "Fang, Amberly! Push up!" Vaal shouted down the corridor and peeked around the corner to fire off her rifle.

Amberly practically leapt out from the elevator and dashed through the storm of bullets up to where Vaal was. Fang however hesitated and cursed herself. Balling her fists up she willed herself to move but her legs remained frozen in place.

"Fang!" Vaal shouted from down the hall.

Fang took a deep breath she looked out from the elevator, a stray bullet that nearly caught her eye sent her back against the wall. ' _Come on move it Fang, bloody hell...'_ Fang thought to herself and practically threw herself out of the elevator, the sudden surge of adrenaline carrying her through the bullet-ridden hallway and up to the others. Still riding her adrenaline wave, she leant out of cover and shot two soldiers in cover. Fang kept her eyes trained on the last soldier who threw down his gun and shouted, "I surrender."

"Good, step out." Vaal called back and drew her handgun. The soldier did as he was told and stepped out. Fang had to stop herself from jumping at Vaal as she raised the pistol to eye height and shot the soldier. Vaal turned to Fang and read her face like a book, giving her an easing smile as she spoke. "Sorry Fang but these soldiers were dead as soon as they stepped inside the Ark. No one is allowed to leave alive and that goes for us too." Vaal said and holstered her sidearm, moving to the soldiers and looting their equipment. Amberly was silent as she moved to the next door and checked her gear.

"Fang?" Vaal eyed the Pulsian woman as she approached. "Are you good? You need a big sloppy kiss from mommy?"

"No ma'am." Fang sighed and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Good because we got that strawberry sunshine of yours to get you back to!" Vaal grinned from ear to ear and leant on Fang. "That and you've probably got a ton of info on Jihl right?"

"Wait a minute, that's not the reason I got transferred here is it?"

Vaal stepped away and shrugged, guilty as charged. "Well I might have seen the incoming transfers and actually I just thought the name Fang was pretty damn cool. I mean Fang, like damn! Well we better not keep that girl of yours waiting. Now let's go get mine back!" Vaal marched towards the door and pressed herself against the wall beside it. She had expected a league of soldiers ready to light her and her team up when the door open. Instead Vaal's footsteps echoed through the silent room as she moved inside and swivelled around. Crystals and body parts crunched under her boots with each step she took into the room. The growing smell of death assaulting her senses as she stepped into the centre of the room, looking down to the bloody ooze that she had just stepped in.

"The hell are Cie'th doing down here?" Amberly said as she followed behind Vaal, the soldier turning back to her surprised.

"You can see them?"

Amberly nodded and let her lips shift into a frown. "Yeah, I can." With a heavy exhale she looked away and to anything else in the room. Her eyes widening as they latched on to a familiar form, nearly unrecognisable under the blood that covered him head to toe. "Donelly?" Amberly rushed over and sat her gun down beside him. "Donelly are you alright?"

The scientist coughed and winced at the feeling the fire in his lungs. "Pritchard, I'm sorry. I couldn't stop them."

Amberly scoffed and shook her head. "Of course you couldn't, you shouldn't have even tried you idiot, You're a scientist not a soldier." Her spirits raised as Donelly managed a laugh. "Are you gonna make it?"

Donelly shook his head and looked down at his legs, or the dead soldier lying across them. "I got screwed up pretty bad."

"You did one hell of a job though. So are they in the lab?"

Donelly nodded and laid back against the wall, his eyes fluttering shut. "Yeah, go give em..." Donelly trailed off and slumped down the wall.

Picking up her rifle she walked back over to the others. "Whitman's in the lab. Let's end this."

"Amberly when do you think your men will get here?" Vaal asked and scanned the room one last time before moving towards the lab entrance.

Amberly hummed as she processed the answer in her head. "I've got them sweeping through the upper floors, I think the closest was sub-level five so roughly ten maybe fifteen minutes."

Vaal grinned with excitement. "So I guess we're doing this the hard way. Fang you ready?"

Fang slung her gun over her shoulder and mirrored the major's attitude. "Yes ma'am."

Amberly readied herself by the door and looked over her companions. "You kids ready?"

"Kids?" Vaal scoffed and shook her head with pride. "I'll have you know I'm thirty seven."

Amelia shut the door to Amberly's quarters, well sort of Amberly's quarters. Truthfully Amelia had probably spent more time in here than her own room. It had this charming chaos to it, the clothes on the floor, the half drank beers littering around the place, the soft smell of her deodorant lingering in the air. With a coo Amelia fell backwards into the messy blankets of the bed, even now with a potential invasion of her home she could still relax.

"Ah you're here."

Amelia looked up to her daughter who hurried across the room and dove on the bed beside her. "Jihl I'm sorry I've been busy all day. So how are your classes going?"

Jihl shrugged. "They're pretty easy. The teacher says I have my mother's smarts."

"Mother's smarts?" Amelia raised a brow.

"Oh you don't know yet? So I take it you're still pretending to be mother then." Jihl sat upright and held out her arm, a scar travelling down the length of her wrist. "See I got this when I was playing with mommy's knives, the one's that she keeps hidden in the bottom of her cupboard." Jihl reached out for Amelia's arm and rolled up her sleeves, her eyes widening as they looked. It was feint, nearly unnoticeable but a tiny tan coloured line traced the length of her wrist, a mirror image of Jihl's scar. "How?" Was all Amelia could manage, her confused stare lingering on her arm.

Jihl got up and pulled Amelia into a hug. "Don't worry I know you're scared, it's okay. But we both know that mother doesn't do things without a reason, so she wanted you to see something." Jihl released and sat down in front of Amelia. "I know what it is and I can help you but I need your help first." Jihl smiled and pointed towards the fridge. "Mommy put the jelly beans up on the fridge and I can't reach them."

Amelia frowned. "Jihl I... What do you mean I wanted to show me something?"

Jihl audibly sighed. "Claire Farron, Serah Farron, Oerba Yun Fang. Jihlian Corvano Manellia Nabaat. Did you know Corvano and Manellia are both researchers here? And mommy told me that Nabaat was the name of your mother."

Amelia nodded and frowned perplexed by her daughter's new found knowledge of her staff. "Yes I... do, they both work down in the labs with me. How did you know that?"

"I met them when we went down there. There was this big commotion, fifteen years ago?" Jihl said, the last part a little unsure. "But Whitman came with his army, he was after the machine. He had learnt that the machine can restore people to their former selves, change them into Cie'th. But we stopped him." Jihl sunk down and sighed. "But a lot of people died. You and mommy both died. You asked Corvano and Manellia to take me away to safety."

Amelia sobbed and wiped her eyes, the memories flooding back. Without another word she hurried over to the fridge and pulled down the jar of jellybeans, pooping a handful in her mouth before she handed them to Jihl. "So Jihl if he's back then we can stop him for good this time." Amelia flung open the wardrobe and pulled out the shotgun and armour.

"Can you use those?"

Amelia shook her head and looked to her daughter. "I can't but you can."

The door to the laboratories opened into the research room, lined with lab-coat corpses and soldiers alike. A soldier hunched over the main terminal and fiddled away with commands and behind him stood Whitman, the colonel turning as the door opened. Taking their moment of surprise to their advantage, Vaal rushed in and darted behind some of the metal benches as cover.

"Whitman! Give up while you have the chance!" Vaal shouted, not daring to peek a view of the colonel with all the guns pointed at her.

Whitman glared at the new additions to the room. "Men they've been corrupted by the monsters. Kill them! We need to retrieve the data at once."

"Corrupted my bloody ass you wan-" Vaal shouted before a short burst of gunfire cut her off. "Whitman's a traitor!" Vaal shouted back and responded with a burst from her own rifle, sending the soldiers into cover.

"Sir the terminal is unlocked, transferri-"

"Move aside!" For a crippled old man, Whitman threw the soldier aside with ease. "Finally I can finish what I started." Whitman punched a series of buttons into the terminal and the machine boot up, coming to life with a series of flashing lights and colours.

"He's activating the machine. We need to stop him now!" Amberly called across the room and peeked out a few shots.

"Right, Fang got any flashbangs?"

Fang dug into her vest and held up the grenade. With a nod from Vaal she hefted it over her cover to the soldiers.

"Flashbang!" One of the soldiers managed to shout and throw his arms over his eyes just in time to avoid the disorientating blast.

Vaal, Amberly and Fang burst over cover and pushed forward, pinning the soldiers down with gunfire as they sprinted across the short distance of the room. Dashing past the soldiers Vaal drew her knife and lunged at Whitman, her blade tearing into his hand and piercing through the table. The colonel went for his pistol but not fast enough as Vaal punched him in the face and sent him reeling. Turning her attention back to the soldiers, those who had survived the assault had surrendered and were being executed.

"It's not over yet. Soon I shall become a god and you shall kneel before me. I will conquer the world and bring it into a new age one of-"

Amberly buried her boot into his ribs and spat. "That's not how the machine works. It creates clones, it's meant to make blank soldiers to fight so that scum like you can live." With a short huff Amberly drew her pistol and shook her head, the worm crawling before her definitely didn't live up to the image of Colonel Whitman that she'd created in her head. "It's time to die Whitman."

"Amberly watch out!" A colossal mass moved towards Amberly, punching her and sending her tumbling across the room before anyone could do anything.

"Fang go check on her!"

Whitman looked up in awe and horror at the creature before him. His mirror image stared down at him with disgust. "Pathetic worm, even now you grovel. You should just die." The crystal Whitman reached down to Whitman, stopping as Vaal fired her magnum and put holes in its shoulder. With a low grunt, he dropped Whitman and turned to the new threat, at least this one walks. Slowly the tower of muscle and armour approached, unhindered by Fang's added rifle power.

"Oi you big bastard!" Fang shouted and emptied another magazine into him. "Vaal shut that damn machine down. Amberly and I will keep this thing distracted."

"Got it." Vaal answered and watched the Cie'th move away before she broke away towards the terminal, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Whitman had disappeared. The screen was lit up with gauges and dials and readings none of which she understood. Thankfully the whole thing had been idiot-proofed by the big red button that read 'emergency shutdown' on the centre of the screen. "Please do." Vaal said and pressed it. With a relieving sound the machine whirred and power down, the tanks of liquid drained away any more potential crystal Whitmans from entering the fight.

Fang back peddled, thankfully for all the amour the Cie'th was moving around in, it hindered his movements enough for her to be able to outmanoeuvre him as she dropped her gun and picked one off of the dead soldiers on the floor. Turning around she fired again, her bullets simply crumpling against the crystal suit of armour, not even Amberly could do more than scratch it, the hobbled woman painfully limping back to avoid drawing too much attention to herself.

"We need something bigger!" Fang shouted and dropped another rifle, her eyes darting around for something with a bit more kick.

Vaal ran up to the monster and leapt, burying her knife an exposed chunk of flesh on his shoulder. "Then find something! Oh shit." Vaal dropped down and rolled out of the way as the monster slammed his back into the wall, burying her knife inside of it. "Goddammit, that was my lucky knife." Vaal drew her secondary sidearm, her magnum being all out of ammo, and started peppering the monster with bullets, doing nothing in the way of damage. Fang slid out of the way and beside the corpses, quickly digging over their bodies for weapons of use. Another curse escaped as she found nothing but small calibre rifles and side arms. Just as she stood up and turned her attention back to the fight, her boot kicked at something, the rolling sound rung like a bell. Reaching down she picked up the HE grenade and thanked Etro or whatever god was looking down on her right now. "Vaal I got a grenade."

"So? What good will that do?" Vaal dropped her handgun and grabbed the closest thing to her, which just so happened to be a cup of steaming hot coffee. With a grunt, she threw it and shattered ceramic all over the monster's face. "Amberly you got anything?"

Amberly checked herself over and shook her head. "No I'm dry. I can run back to the lobby and grab something if you want. Can you two handle this?"

Fang and Vaal both risked a quick grin. "Of course, we're professionals." The two answered in unison.

Amberly nodded and limped towards the door to resupply.

"Vaal here!" Fang drew her knife and tossed it over to the other woman. Honestly, Fang only required it for survival purposes, she was never really one for short blades like that, but give her a spear. Fang pulled her trusty pal and dropped her harness and holsters to the floor. Letting out a relieved breath of air now that she wasn't being strangled by all of it. With a happy grin she charged forward and slashed her spear across the Cie'th's chest and then followed up by burying her spear in between the plates of his shoulder armour. Leaping up she pressed her boots against the bulwark of crystal and kicked her and her spear back out of range, landing deftly with her spear tucked behind her and ready.

Vaal wasn't so lucky. Fang's combat knife possessed neither the length or leverage to afford such grandeur in her attacks, instead she dashed forward, passing him by and leaving the Cie'th with a quick slash at whatever exposed skin her knife could find. Vaal huffed, minutes had passed of playing tag with the monster, and truthfully all the last minute calculation and twisting out of the way of the monster's sledgehammer blows had drained her more than she thought, Fang by the looks of it was feeling it too.

Grabbing her radio, Vaal shouted to Amberly on the other end, "Amberly where the hell are you?"

Gunfire broke over the radio and Vaal couldn't tell who it belonged to.

"Sorry the rest of Whitman's soldiers are pressing hard, I've got a detachment of troops barely holding them off as it is and more of these pricks just keep showing up. You really did have four thousand troops huh." Amberly cursed, her pain emanating over the electric circuits of the radio.

"Alright just hold 'em off and don't get your ass killed alright."

"Please killed by these recruits. I have a name to-" An explosion blew static to Vaal's end.

"Amberly? Amberly are you there?"

"Vaal look out!"

Vaal looked up as Fang's words hit her ears, just seconds before the Cie'th's fists connected with her ribs and sent her crashing into the ground with a nasty crunch, she somehow managed to land and rolled, barely staggering back to her feet. With a short spasm of bloodied coughing, she dropped her radio and forced herself back into the fight. "I'm good Fang. Still got that grenade?"

"Give it here."

"Vaal, no!" Fang looked at the woman, her stupid grin across her face as she tapped her vest.

"It's double reinforced, my ribs are fine. Plus I'm getting tired of this thing." Vaal winced and fought to stay on her feet. "I'll find somewhere to plant it and I need you to drag my ass back to the infirmary got it, that's an order Private Yun."

Fang sighed and tossed her the grenade. "Just don't do anything stupid."

"Please, stupid is my thing." Vaal circled around the Cie'th and it did the same, whether it was particularly annoyed with her or just looking to finish off the wounded combatant she didn't know. Her eyes watched the Cie'th carefully, his crystals glimmering under the laboratory lights as he moved. Suddenly her eyes locked onto a shadow in his chest, where the crystals jutted out and formed the breastplate, a spot where the shadows didn't move. "Got it, Fang draw his attention for a moment."

Fang nodded and saved her energy for fighting instead of answering back. With a nod she dashed forward and slashed at the Cieth's back, dodging under a swing as the Cie'th changed his target. That was when Vaal rushed forward and threw herself onto his back, scrabbling for a handhold to pull herself up. "Merry Christmas motherfucker!" Vaal remarked and rammed the grenade down into the pocket on his chest, holding onto it to ensure it didn't come loose and fall to the ground. Tightening her grip around his neck, Vaal clenched her teeth and forced her eyes shut for the moment to come.

The sudden burst of light and fire that engulfed her hand ripped through Vaal for the moment before the Cie'th's head violently jerked back from the explosion and connected with Vaal's, knocking the major off of the Cie'th and onto the ground. With her head ringing, thankfully in her concussed state, she couldn't feel her hand, or what was left of her hand. The Cie'th too was on the ground, chunks of crystal armour littered about the room. Fang rushed over, her face flush with horror as she panicked with her things. Vaal raised her left hand to tell her not to worry and her eyes went wide. Her hand was gone, she knew it would be after letting a grenade go off like that but she had to be sure it worked. Wait had it worked? Her head slowly turned to the scorched face of the Cie'th, it's armour rent and blood dripped from the shards that buried themselves in it's skin. Vaal let her head lower to the floor, she couldn't even feel the sting of the antibiotics and bandages Fang hastily administered to her arm.

The door to the laboratory opened and a shotgun-wielding Amelia rushed inside, her eyes locking onto Vaal's bloody state and then to the wounded Cie'th. 'Good' she thought, her fingers gripping the needle in her right hand tighter. Moving over she looked to Vaal for a moment before looking up to Fang, the Pulsian shared her own set of wounds, cuts and bruises over her face and the exposed skin of her arms. "Fang, how is she?"

"She'll live I think. That thing is getting up again? For Etro's sake." Fang cursed and grabbed her spear, ready to charge. She stilled as Amelia put her hand to Fang's shoulder. Raising the syringe Amelia nodded. "Amelia was researching the Cie'th, she found a way to cure them. Her blood. It turns out she created dozens of Jihls afterwards too, I was just the first."

"So stab it with her blood and it will die?"

Jihl shook her head. "No it will turn human and that's when we kill the fucker."

"Ooh-rah! What do you need me to do?" Fang smiled for the first time during the fight.

Jihl held the needle out to Fang. "You're better at dancing around this thing I take it? You wanna stab him and then I'll finish him with this." Jihl raised her shotgun earning a nod from Fang.

"Sounds like a pretty solid plan." Fang took the syringe carefully and sat down her spear.

Jihl exhaled to dispel some of the worry on her face. "Be careful with that or we'll have to go with plan B."

"Plan B?"

"Yeah I get close and blow my brains out hoping that some of my blood gets in him and is enough to turn him into a human."

Fang gulped. "No pressure then."

The Cie'th had gotten back onto its feet and painfully lumbered towards Fang and Jihl. Its armour was still blown to hell giving Fang or Jihl a well exposed view of its neck. Jihl darted to its side, flanking it as she sunk a few rounds into the crystal armour, despite packing slug rounds the gun did nothing to even dent it. Unfortunately, the Cie'th didn't care for her or her shotgun and continued towards the unconscious Vaal.

"Guess it's a knife fight huh, oh?" Jihl spotted the glimmering hilt of Vaal's knife, now sticking a few inches out of his back as a result of the earlier explosion. Jihl rushed forward, emptying nearly all of her shotgun into his side, even scoring a hit to his face that surprisingly had little yield, earning her a glancing sweep for all her trouble. "Hey asshole pay me some attention TOO!" Jihl jumped up and grabbed onto the knife, her weight managed to yank it down and tear through his back. The Cie'th wailed in pain and staggered, nearly toppling over backwards and giving Fang a good view of his neck. Her boots sung against the floor as she darted over, dodging the desperate punch that went wide and raced up to his throat. Fang reached down and stabbed the needle into his neck, draining the contents of the syringe before jumping back and giving into the temptation of a one-liner, "I guess diamonds aren't forever anymore." Fang watched as the crystals liquefied and pooled at the floor around him, leaving an injured Whitman on the floor, who groaned as Jihl grabbed her shotgun and stuck the barrel into his mouth.

"Asshole." Jihl shut her eyes as the gun went off and scrambled his brains all over the floor. Letting the gun fall to the ground she rushed over to Vaal, who was barely conscious. "Vaal!" Jihl shouted and clung to the Major, earning a painful grunt in return. "You're hand! What the hell happened?"

Vaal managed to open her eyes with a bloody smile. "Oh you know, I let a grenade go off in my hand. I had to be sure it didn't come loose."

"You stupid idiot. How are you gonna take me on that date if you die?"

Vaal chuckled and reached for her magnum. "Ooh I got a date?"

"Yeah of course you get a date, after all this you've earned like four dates." Jihl hesitantly took the gun and watched Vaal pull the necklace with a bullet from her neck.

"Alright I'm looking forward to it. Here now go kill that bastard, Whitman, he got away through the back."

Jihl nodded and took it. "Right and you better not die on me alright?" Jihl sobbed and wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, she sniffled as she tried to be menacing. "If you do I will, I'll-"

"Pfft come on. Die before I get my kiss from my prince charming, hardly. Now go get em tiger! Rawr!" Vaal chuckled and settled back down painfully.

"Fang keep an eye on her." Jihl stuffed the bullet into the gun and stormed off towards the elevator.

Throwing open the door to the hallway of the elevator, Jihl stopped. Crouching down her fingers reached out and brushed against Amelia's cheek, the real Amelia's cheek. Her skin was cold, frozen cold actually just like a Cie'th. The red crystals from where the blood her seeped out of her wound flowered over her lab-coat.

"Don't forget she was a Cie'th." Jihl turned to see her child self standing behind her, despite not knowing the woman or remembering her as her mother, the emotions were still there, and still assaulted Jihl. Calming her breath Jihl nodded and closed Amelia's eyes.

"Don't worry she's still with us, after all she's in our hearts, or well we have her heart in us." Jihl closed her eyes and remembered what her child self had told her. How that when Jihl was born she came out human but her heart was defunct, Amelia had chosen in that instant to go under the knife, after all Jihl was the first specimen to come out correctly and if her theory was right then she would be fine, given time. After having her heart transplanted, the formation process was extended to three months to create the doctor again and she came out perfect. Jihl reached out and took her mother's hand. "Don't worry I'll go get mommy, but first..."

Cliff whistled in relief, the operation had went better than expected, apparently Whitman had decided sending a bulk of the forces into the Ark was a good idea, and it was. It meant that Cliff didn't have to deal with them and given the new information on Whitman, Frank White had the rest of the troops stand down. The Ark doors whirred and screamed, slowly opening once again. The soldiers tired and fatigued grabbed their rifles and rushed over, adrenaline fuelling them into their positions as they expected a retaliatory strike by the Cie'th. Cliff, Rigel and Frank too stood at the ready, narrowing their eyes as a lone figure shambled out.

"Amelia?" Cliff called out and waved everyone down before rushing out.

Jihl shook her head. "No it's finally me, Jihl Nabaat. I need med-teams into the ark, Vaal's injured badly down on the lowest floor and could you get the soldiers to cease fighting."

"Alright I'll see what I can do. Frank can you get over here."

"Cliff, where's Whitman?"

Cliff pointed over to the colonel's office and stood aside, stopping White from interfering as well. "Alright White we need a cease-fire, those are our people in there, you read the file right?"

Frank snarled and watched Jihl for a moment before turning back to Cliff, it was still hard to believe what he had read. "Alright I'll get onto the radio immediately and if you want to start sending men in now, go ahead. I can't believe all of this crap is real, I mean crystals monsters and coming back from the dead-" Frank shook his head still gripped by disbelief.

Whitman fumbled with the bottle of whiskey on his desk, it was surprisingly harder to open the bottle with one hand wrapped in bandages. The door clicked open and death stepped inside, his face paling at the sight of the woman before him. "Amelia?"

"Close enough." Jihl snapped and fired her gun, blowing Whitman's brains out of the quarter sized hole in the back of his head. "That's for my parents and for Vaal." Jihl walked over and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. Clenching her fist around it she threw it and screamed. The brown liquor shattered against the wall and spilt across the floor.

 _Two years, three hundred and fifty five days later_

Jihl slouched down, leaning over the bar as she waved down Tifa, the bartender waved back and quickly wrapped up her talk with the only two other patrons still in the bar at this time of night.

Jihl sighed and rubbed the creases forming under her eyes despite only being twenty six years old. Ever since the Ark she'd suffered nothing but long night's that usually stretched into the early morning and truck loads of stress, more than anyone could handle and it showed. Her sunken eyes lifted as Tifa placed a bottle of her favourite scotch on the bench and poured two glasses. Taking one, Jihl raised her glass and clinked it against Tifa's before tipping it back, drinking it down like water. Tifa gave her a smile, nearly reaching out to Jihl's shoulder and whispering 'it's going to be okay, you'll see,' but she didn't, she never did. Instead the bartender let her smile linger before leaving Jihl in her silence.

Jihl poured herself another glass of scotch and then another and then one more. Finally feeling the effects of the liquor upon her, Jihl sighed in her drunken state of relief. With a long exhale she let her blonde hair drape down her sides and she looked at the silver ringing around her finger. A smile pulled across her face as her head rose back up to the bar. But then came the frown after, the memories after... Jihl took another large swig at her scotch as she pushed away the events in the aftermath of the Ark, instead turning her attention back to her ring, and of course the person behind it. "Jihl Sanchez." The words rolled softly off of her tongue, or was it Vaal Nabaat. "Vaal..." Jihl spoke sadly, tearing up at the memory and sighed again. Settling beside her scotch, the ring twinkling under the bar lights.

Tifa coughed as she approached, announcing her presence before she dared approach. "How are you feeling?"

Jihl straightened up as best she could, settling for leaning on the bar and shrugged in response. "I'm fine."

Tifa shook her head and held up the half-empty bottle of scotch. "Are you? Usually you're already on your fourth bottle but you've barely even started your fourth glass. So what's going on?"

Jihl picked up her glass again. "It's mostly classified, very high above the pay grade of a bartender." Jihl froze with her glass at her lips at the chilling stare Tifa was giving her. "Sorry, my favourite bartender." Tifa smiled, satisfied with the corrected answer. "But..?"

Jihl smiled which surprised Tifa more than anything. "But it's all coming to an end, very, very soon."

"Are you still going to see her? Tomorrow I mean?" Tifa asked softly, she was treading on dangerous ground. She'd seen what happened to people who slipped up at the mention of the former Major and she'd only seen them afterwards leaving in the back of an ambulance. But Tifa was different, three years of pouring scotch had earned her this much at the least.

"Yeah," Jihl's smile widened. "I have to, she'd be pissed if I didn't. Oh did I tell you she's cooking this time?"

Tifa chuckled and refilled their glasses with scotch. "Oh yeah? Can she cook?"

"I don't have a clue. God what if she burns the apartment down? Crap! Should have I just gotten take out? It's what we did last year." Jihl fretted and stared at her scotch with worry.

Tifa lowered herself to the bar and chuckled. It wasn't often Jihl let her emotions spill out. Reaching out, she put her hand on Jihl's shoulder reassuringly. "Jihl, she's a Major and the former captain of the GP. Besides she can handle you so I'm sure she can handle dinner for one night."


	7. Chapter 7: Jihl's Anniversary

Brass and Lightning: Jihl's Anniversary

* * *

Jihl fished her wallet out and paid her cab driver in cash. Stepping out of the taxi she was met by torrential rain that battered down the heavy coat she was wearing, other pedestrians were hurrying to cover from the storm. To Jihl however there wasn't anything better suited for the neon district at night, it really brought out this atmosphere like something out of Blade Runner. Not that anyone would ever believe that she had seen the film, the blonde silently mouth a thank you to Fang for forcing her and Lightning through it back while they were in college. Looking around and taking a moment to get her bearings, she began moving through the crowd of prostitutes, gangsters and the actual filth that spilt over and onto the road, it was a refreshing change from all the pomp and glamour that the new city put on. Looking over her shoulder, Jihl checked for anyone tailing her thus far and quickly she ducked past a pair of Chinese thugs and the flickering neon sign that sat out in front of the small corner store.

The door closed with a ring of a small bell fastened to the top and shut out the late night calls of prostitutes with it. A small elderly Asian man behind the counter looked up from behind the counter, beady little eyes lit up from behind the small round glasses that sat perched on his nose. His mouth widening into a yellowed and somewhat toothless smile at the sight of the woman. "Ah, a pleasure as always Miss Sanchez. Things are well with you I take it?"  
Jihl nodded as she walked past the proprietor. "That's right Mr Chen. In the back right?"  
Mr Chen nodded and looked down the aisle where the pet food was kept. "You should get the dry. It lasts longer and is better for your furry friend, cheaper too."  
Jihl nodded and ran her hand along the items on the shelf as she passed by. "Well Mr Chen lucky for you, she prefers the wet, and you're the only one to stock it in the area."  
"Ha! That's because you're the only woman who buys it miss Sanchez. Most of those new city folk don't even use dog food any more. Liquid diets are becoming all the rage." Chen let out a long sigh and let his face rest in his hands. "The world is really ending."  
Jihl stifled a laugh at the Chinese man and softly spoke the product names as she continued down the aisle, stopping at the picture of a Basset hound at her fingers. "Bajidu, wet." Taking a couple of boxes Jihl turned around to return to the front of the store but stopped, her eyes catching sight of the fridges behind her. Everything else in the store looked like it was at least a century old, Chen included, but the fridges were clean, even sparkling. "Hey, Chen did you get new fridges?" Jihl called out and peered back up to the front desk.  
Chen's head poked up from behind his computer and he stroked the short white beard he was sporting. "Ah I did, how observant of you to notice Miss Sanchez. There was an accident last week with another police officer, he buys the wet dog food too." Chen laughed and scratched the bald spot underneath his cap. "It must be a police thing because he won't take my advice either, refuses to buy the dry as well."  
"You know us old folks, we're all just stubborn."  
"Indeed we are." Chen laughed and turned his attention back to his computer.

Walking back down the isle Jihl turned a few things over before setting them back down on the shelves, not really paying attention to anything else in the store. Eventually she decided on some spices and some kind of tofu dessert thing and headed back to the front of the store.  
"Ah I see." Chen said sourly as his long bony fingers took the boxes of wet food from Jihl.  
Jihl grinned. "You know I mostly do it just to annoy you Chen."  
Chen nodded with raised his brows and sighed. "Oh I know." With a chuckle he began scanning her items and putting them into the cheap plastic bags that had been outlawed from the other districts decades ago. "So how is she?" Chen asked softly, not looking up from the scanner.  
Jihl looked down at Chen's weathered green eyes. "She's good, angry that I didn't make it last month. So I got a dessert to win her over, think I'll live?"  
Chen nodded and kept scanning her items. "Oh of course, after all I would be able to convince her to buy the dry and then what would buy the wet for her?"  
Jihl buried her hands in the pockets of her coats and softly laughed.  
"Ah was that a laugh I saw? You should do it more often and less of the scowling. If not, you'll soon you'll look older than me. Ahaha!" Chen laughed and stopped as he shook his head, putting the last of Jihl's items in the bag. "These rascals will stop eventually and then you can make up for the time you missed with her, I'm sure she understands. She did after all fall in love with a police officer."  
"You think so?" Jihl asked and met the weathered green eyes that hinted towards a smile.  
"Oh of course, you only love police officers for two reasons. Cheaper bribes and love." Chen laughed again and glared at his computer, the archaic machine was slowly printing out her receipt. Tapping his fingers against his crossed arms as he waited for his computer to finish. "Sorry these old machines take a little while to process it. Oh I got something for you, If I remember correctly it is your anniversary tonight isn't it?"  
Jihl nodded and sunk into the fact that it had been three whole years already. With all the fuss and panic brought on by the FLG, time had snuck right passed her.

The sound of Chen groaning refocused her attention back to reality and the old man standing behind an expensive looking bottle of wine. "It's probably a cheap imitation of Cocoon wine but it says Cocoon on the label."  
"Chen you didn't have to."  
Chen shook his head and tucked the bottle in the bag with Jihl's things. "Of course I did. Do you really think I drink wine? No Mr Chen drinks whiskey and lots of it."  
"Oh god, that's probably bad for your health." Jihl said feeling somewhat concerned for the old man who looked like he'd keel over at any moment.  
Chen shrugged not giving a damn. "Have you seen where I live? Everything in the old district is bad for you. I have Chinese junkies armed with machine guns out the front of my corner store." Chen gave her a mischievous smile as he looked out the window to the gathering of women on the corner. "Shame I can't hire some of those."  
Jihl followed his gaze to the crowd of women outside. "Oh, Chen." Jihl frowned at the lecherous old man who laughed, flashing his yellow teeth and threw his head back.  
"They make for good company, not that you would need it with that wonderful girl of yours." Chen looked down to the computer that was flashing, having finally printed the receipt. "Ah it's done finally, I could write it out quicker." Chen grumbled and handed Jihl her bag. "Well miss Sanchez have a wonderful night dear."  
"You too Chen. Take care." Jihl grabbed her bag and stepped through the door, the bell chiming as it once again shut out the pollution of the world outside.

Dropping the grocery store bag beside her feet, Jihl stripped out of her heavy coat and her shoes before continuing down the fake wood flooring of her apartment. Slowing as she approached the main room of the apartment, Jihl let herself get pulled into the sounds of jazz music that grew louder with each step. A woman faintly hummed along with the tune, although with the addition of a variety of curses mixed in between the lyrics. Setting the bottle of wine down on the floor, Jihl slumped down against the wall beside it and focused on the woman in the kitchen, content to just listen to the sounds of the knife on the chopping board that could be faintly heard underneath the music.  
"Shit!" The woman cursed as pots threatened to bubble over on the stove, moving them off the heat before they likely exploded, whatever inside could be heard spilling over and hissing wildly.  
"Why the bloody hell does she make me cook every time. Oh I'm too busy to do it. Oh I'm saving the world from a crazed cult that wants to force evolution on the entire human race. Oh I never learnt how to cook. Grrr! You did not not learn how to cook! Damn that lazy woman. When I see her I'm going to..." The woman complained, threatening to kill the wood spatula in her hands.

Jihl stood up and grabbed the bottle of wine Mr Chen had given her. Stepping around she sent a smile to the woman behind the counter dropped the knife and stared back at her. "-kiss the living shit out of her." Vaal mumbled and stared back at Jihl. The duo sat locked, staring into each other's eyes until finally a pot on the stove broke the silence. Moving over, Jihl turned the heat down to low and turned back to the amber eyes that watched her.  
"Bloody hell luv, kept me waiting didn't you?" Vaal chuckled and held Jihl's hands, pulling her against the messy apron she was wearing as she softly pushed her lips against Jihl's.  
Gently easing her off, Jihl sucked in as much as air as she could and kissed her again. "Vaal." Jihl whispered softly and buried her face in Vaal's shoulder, letting the smell of Vaal's deodorant help her forget everything outside of the room. Vaal's hand gently traced along Jihl's jawline and guided her focus back up to her eyes. "Jihly." Vaal teased, earning a groan from the blonde in her arms. "How 'bout you handle the cooking while I go have a shower and slip into something nicer?"  
"Alright." Jihl let Vaal go and watched her slip into the other room before she turned and quickly prevented the disaster brewing behind her.

"Well what do you think?"  
Jihl looked over her shoulder, her breath catching in her throat when she saw Vaal. The Major stepped closer, hesitantly as she wore a short grey dress and bright red blushes across her cheeks. "Jihl?" Vaal asked uneasily as Jihl stared at her. "Well luv, say something."  
"I'm sorry, it's gorgeous." Jihl answered quickly and stepped away from the kitchen,

not bothering to try and hide her affection that blossomed across her face.  
Vaal grinned as Jihl closed in on her and let her loosen the tie around her neck. "It bloody better be. It's so breezy down there it feels like I've got my fanny out." Vaal pouted and earned a giggle in response. "Now we've just got to get you in a dress don't we luv?"  
"You don't like the suit?" Jihl asked running a hand down the front of her shirt and interlocked her fingers with Vaal's.  
"Oh no I don't like the suit-" Vaal leant closer and whispered softly in her ear, "I love it." Resting her head against Jihl's chest, the two women gently swayed to the soft music in the air.

"Jihl, tell me you're alright."  
"I am." The blonde answered in a soft monotone.  
Vaal's concerned frown only deepened as she looked up at Jihl, the woman's face still calm and neutral. "Are you really though? I mean, you've changed. I don't like it." Closing her eyes, Vaal leaned her head against Jihl's shoulder. "You're quieter now and I only see you smile around me, but it hurts. You don't talk like you used to either, now you're careful and reserved. Each word seems calculated and careful, I remember back when I first met you, when things hadn't gone to hell. You laughed a lot and smiled a lot, not just for me, or Rigel or Cliff. I like to believe it was for yourself. All I see now is this longing, this desperate need for someone to hold you and I hate it. Jihl you shouldn't have to ever ask for that, you don't deserve that and especially not with me, I'm always here for you." Pulling back, Vaal stared into the soft green eyes that calmly stared back at her. Sucking her breath, Vaal sighed pathetically and forced herself not to cry. "I just wish you'd laugh or cry or swear or something. I want my girlfriend to talk to me, to complain and joke about stupid stuff. Jihl... Please just say something."  
Jihl hung her head and groaned. "Sorry."  
Vaal scowled some more and stabbed a finger into Jihl's cheek. "Luv I meant like words and things, like how's work? Or what's new with Fang? I just... let me in please." Vaal frowned as Jihl tightened her hold around her and kissed her. It wasn't like Jihl at all, the kiss was needy and Jihl was pushing herself into it, forcing herself into it. Breaking apart, Jihl let the concern show on her face as a sob escaped her. "Vaal, I'm scared. I mean I'm absolutely petrified. Tomorrow everything comes to an end and I've got to lead them through it and I dunno if-" Vaal put her fingers over Jihl's lips and chuckled. "Jihl there's no point in worrying about it. Whatever happens tomorrow I'll be there."  
Jihl face lightened as the words hit her ears, something about them just cleansed all of the stupid worries that had been rattling around inside her. Pulling Vaal into a hug, Jihl laughed and actually broke into a smile.

"Well Fang and Lightning are back together. I'm worried though, she's currently working alongside us and so she'll likely deploy with us tomorrow." Jihl frowned at the thought of dragging Lightning further into her mess.  
"Wait, fairyfloss and Fang broke up?" Vaal asked, slipping out of Jihl's hold to finish up dinner.  
"Uhhh sort of, maybe..." Jihl gave Vaal a shrug and sunk down into her shoulders. "Mhmm I don't actually know. Fang didn't return to Lightning after the Ark so I guess she didn't talk to her for a year."  
The comment was met by an equally terrifying glare from Vaal as she carried over the food. "Well no shit. I would be pissed at you if you didn't talk to me for a year." Jihl nodded and wiggled down onto the sofa, letting out a loud groan through the apartment. "God I'm a terrible friend." Vaal snickered as she sat a coffee down in front of Jihl.  
"Terrible girlfriend too, ooh wait is that cake?" Vaal dropped her assault in favour of the desert, her excitement carrying her to the words 'tofu' and 'healthy' printed on top of the box. "Why? Jihl..."  
"It's cake." Jihl said and shrugged, it was technically a cake, but looking over to Vaal she bit her lip, the woman's face was stuck in a mixture of disgust, horror and confusion. "Jihl, Tofu, healthy and cake, do not go together. You know in Pulsian cake means sugar and diabetes. I mean you're from Cocoon and your cakes are just sickeningly sweet, I mean talk about one uping the Arks." Vaal sat the 'thing' carefully down on the kitchen bench and sighed in relief as she retreated from it.

Sitting down across from Jihl, Vaal smiled now that her girlfriend was sipping at a coffee with a content grin on her face. "So Colonel Nabaat, feeling better?"  
Jihl winced at the sound of her rank and title from Vaal's tongue, she heard it enough from everyone at work. "Vaal, please don't, I hate that name."  
Vaal was grinning smugly as she sat her food down in favour of taking a bite of Jihl instead. "Sorry, then are you going to kiss me, Miss Sanchez?"  
Jihl brushed her lips against Vaal's who waited for her girlfriend to take charge. "Nope." Her eyes widening into a sulky glare when Jihl pushed her back. "First I'm going to enjoy your stolen burgers."  
"Hey! I didn't steal them, they were a gift from Pritchard and Yudderis after we saved the day and you went all badass and pow!" Vaal made a gun with her fingers and fired it at Jihl.  
A surprise punch connected with her arm, enough to pull a wince from the Major. Jihl just frowned as she took a bite of her burger, her eyes watching Vaal and nearly tearing up. "Vaal never do that again, ever."  
Vaal nodded and took Jihl's hand in her own. "I won't, promise."  
"Good. Now I will kiss you." Jihl chuckled and hovered her face just inches from Vaal. "Happy anniversary Vaal."

* * *

 **A/N: Finally a break for in this story some good old, silly action-less fluff between my favourite two characters at the moment**


	8. Chapter 8: Operation Bodhum

Brass and Lightning: Operation Bodhum

* * *

Jihl crossed her arms as she stared down the receptionist. Freedom's sudden show of grandeur had painted a big bright target on their backs. A target that Jihl was all too happy to put arrows into, well she would be if not for the painstaking process of sending troops into Cocoon. "Colonel Nabaat here to see the Lord Minister." She said for the hundredth time with the growing urge to pull the man across the desk. Letting out a slow and increasingly deadly sigh, she forced a smile.  
"Right one moment..." The receptionist said without looking up and began typing away at his keyboard.  
Impatiently the blonde began tapping her boots as she waited. "Today." Jihl growled and flashed her teeth. She looked over to Fang who was just as perplexed with having to wait.  
"You know you'd think the world wasn't ending." Fang chuckled. "So we're here about Bodhum right?"  
"Mmhm." Jihl said and looked over, she could only death glare the receptionist so much before she would actually make good on her promises.  
"So... you got anyone back there?" Fang asked curiously. Ever since the Ark Jihl had been tight-lipped. She of course, knew about Lightning but as far as Jihl's friends went, that was it.  
Jihl turned away from the receptionist who was obviously not getting them anywhere. "No, not that I can think of. There's Lightning and Vaal. Oh wait there's Serah too. Do Rigel and Cliff count?" Jihl said. She hid a smile as she remembered the younger Farron who had enough energy for half of Bodhum.  
"Light's sister, oh right I forgot that you were adopted." Fang laughed and winked at her. "Guess that makes you my sister in law or something doesn't it?"  
Jihl nodded. "If you two ever tie the knot Captain Yun then yes, it would. Now I really have to make sure you make it through the mission."  
"Aww come on since when I have ever-" Fang gulped and nodded at the look Jihl was giving her. "Safe and sound, it's my middle name."

Her eyes widened as her teenage form appeared from behind Fang. "Hello! It's been a while hasn't it?" She asked with a tilt of her head. Her vibrant green eyes taking in Jihl as she was now.  
"Uhh yeah." Jihl looked at Fang who stared back at her uneasily. "How are you here?" Jihl said in a hushed whisper, ignoring the strange look Fang was still giving her.  
Jihlian pointed to the ground underneath her feet. "Wanna guess what's down there? The parliament building is actually the top floors of an ARK but that means I can also get you through."  
"How?" Jihl asked, her skin already crawling from the thought of standing in another Ark. The hairs standing on end as she tensed up and subconsciously lowered her hand down to where her holster would be. The realisation that it wasn't there only served to send her anxiety crawling uneasily underneath her skin.  
Jihlian gestured for her to follow, stepping around the useless four-eyed receptionist to the security door that lead into the offices of the high up government officials. Standing in front of the door she pressed her hand against the scanner and the door opened. "Amelia was the senior most researcher for the Ark project. She has access to everything. We have access to everything and I mean everything. Jihl that's why you're the only one that can shut down the Arks."  
"So I take it you know where we are going?" Jihl asked with a roll of her eyes. Ignoring the bumbling receptionist that chased after her. Fang shoved him back and the door closed in his face.  
Jihlian answered with a nod. "Of course, after all if you know then I know."  
"Pfft, is that how this works? So explain how you know things I don't?" Jihl raised her attention and looked at the teenager.  
The teenager smirked, proud and cocky. "Well like how Vaal knows things that you don't know. You're brain splintered off into parts as a coping mechanism and assigned personalities to certain memories and information to give them altering personalities."  
"Hey Jihl how did you get the door open? I mean that could come in handy sometime." Fang cut in, unaware of Jihlian's presence.  
"I had help from some old friends, let's leave it at that." Jihl said and continued down the hallway in silence.

"So are you ready to return to Cocoon?" Jihl asked as she stepped inside the elevator. She pressed the floor she was after and looked to Fang.  
Fang slumped against the wall across from her and shrugged. "The Bodhum Ark you mean? Well that depends. Do I get to see Light in a swimsuit?"  
Jihl shot her an uneducated look on how that mattered. "I mean you can see her in a swimsuit here. Also haven't you two already had sex?"  
"Oh yeah, lots of sex. Really hot sex." Fang smiled as Jihl face started turning red. "But..." Fang let out an annoyed sigh and glared at her still single friend, who clearly didn't understand the importance of swimsuits and such. "It's different. Like being naked and being in sexy clothes are two very different things. Like coffee and tea, they both give you caffeine right. Imagine if Vaal came to you in a revealing swimsuit, you wouldn't complain would you?"  
Jihl stopped and pondered the thought, puffing up her reddening cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about Yun. Our relationship was purely professional." Jihl said feigning innocence as best she could while her face got redder and redder.  
The smirk across Fang's face widened. "Yeah? If you say so but you know the women's showers back in the base were pretty small." The Pulsian said smugly causing Jihl to stop dead in her tracks.  
"Fang... what did you see?" Jihl asked, suddenly switching to the cold and demanding tone when she got serious.  
Fang gulped at the sudden change in her friend's atmosphere. "I just saw stuff." She said and stared at the green eyes locked menacingly on to hers. "Oh, you mean word for word?"  
Jihl looked to Fang with cold green eyes and nodded. "Yes, word for word."  
"Well I was going to the shower after my morning run and as I stepped inside I stumbled upon my dear, innocent friend on her knees." Fang stopped and put a hand over her chest to emphasise the gravity of her words. "With her mouth between my superiors thighs, she looked up to the older woman and said something. The words were drained out by the sound of running water. But with a smile across her face and some pretty sexy moans she-"  
"Fang!" Jihl's face somehow managed to turn a shade darker as she was reminded of some of the things she and Vaal had gotten down to. "I mean just what did you see other than... that?"  
"I just saw you and Vaal doing the dirty and so I left as fast as I could. Something I shouldn't know about?"  
Jihl shook her head, relieved that Vaal's secret was intact. "No, but we all have our secrets."  
Fang nodded and looked to their surroundings. "Yeah like just walking into the ministry office."  
"Yes like that." Jihl said and continued down the hall. Stopping at the door she took a deep breath and prepared herself for the verbal shit-storm she'd get for bypassing their slow ass receptionist.

 **Twelve Hours Later**

The engines of the Pulsian military plane slowed to a low roar as it touched down and crossed the runway, coming to a halt near the main terminal building with the sun setting gradually behind it. The back hatch of the plane dropped down to runway and the members of the GP stepped down with a large cohort of regular Pulsian soldiers following behind them.  
Jihl was greeted by a middle-aged man as her boots touched down on Cocoonian soil for the first time in six years. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the insignia of Colonel on his shoulder and her training pulled her into a salute. "Sir, Colonel Nabaat of the GP."  
"Colonel Nabaat, good to finally have you on the ground. I'm Alexander Winters." Winter's looked at the woman and shook his head, gesturing her to stand at ease. "Please, we're both Colonels. Now I'm sure you've been briefed on the situation?"  
Jihl dropped her arms to her sides and shook her head. "Hardly, all we have been told is that the FLG seized the Bodhum Ark in the early hours of yesterday."  
Winters nodded and gestured for her to walk beside him. "If only that was all. That was the start of yesterday and was quickly followed by mass rioting by the group's members, nothing we couldn't handle with the assistance of the Guardian Corp. Early this morning however my men moved on the Ark. The results were, less than desirable. Within an hour these-" Winters paused and struggled to put to words what he'd heard and read in the reports.  
"Creatures?" Jihl interceded.  
Winters nodded and continued. "Yes these 'creatures' had overwhelmed both my men and members of the FLG."  
Jihl eyes darted around as they entered the main terminal. It was packed from wall to wall with terrified citizens all huddled together. Soldiers were scattered about with medical personnel who trying their best to tend to everyone they could.  
"This is all because the creatures then started spilling out of the Ark and overran the surrounding areas. We did our best to evacuate as many citizens as possible." Winters said and hurried through the loud chatter and commotion of the room.  
"Are there more?" Jihl asked, her eyes still crossing the room.  
Winter's nodded. "Yes, a lot more. There are other evacuation centres, the Guardian Corp Headquarters and Police Headquarters are also doing their best to house affected citizens. We are still working on getting the remaining citizens out of the affected areas, unfortunately between sending my men in rescue efforts and maintaining the perimeter around the airport we're stretched thin..." Winters trailed off, hoping that Jihl would follow up with what he wanted to hear.  
Jihl looked out at the quickly set up army tents and the masses of refugees holed up at the front of the airport. "Colonel I'm sorry, I'm here under classified orders to retake the ARK but first I need to find a cafe, Nora House."  
"Nora House? I don't know it personally but I'll put the word out to my men. I take it then you're not here to provide support?"  
Jihl shook her head. "Officially yes but I have different orders. The regular soldiers are going to be stationed with you as a relief effort. I'm also able to leave a few of my men here, you know Raines and Rosch right?"  
Winters grimaced at the thought of the two, enough so that Jihl caught on easy enough. He had worked with the Agents before.  
"It was just a suggestion Winters, if you want some of my people just give me some names to work with. However myself and a group of my team are tasked with infiltrating the Ark."  
Winters sighed in relief and smiled. "Finally some good news them. Well if I can provide any assistance just let me know."  
Jihl sighed in relief and grinned. "Would it possible to get somewhere to sleep, I've spent half the day cramped up in a damn reception."  
Winter's laughed at the blonde who shuddered at the thought of the receptionist again. "Right I'll see what I can do. Amazing that even when the world is ending politicians always find a way to give us the run around hey?"  
"No it's perfectly fine, I mean it's not like we're specifically trained for dealing with Ark related incidents. I'm sure the FLG will wait while the government officials bicker about public relations and defence budgets."  
Winter's reached into his pocket and produced a crumpled pack of cigarette's, offering Jihl one before he took one for himself.  
"Please tell me Cocoon is better?" She raised a brow and let him light the cigarette for her.

Jihl dropped her bag and collapsed in the bed Winter's had provided for her and her men. Thankfully she had been given her own private room separate from the others. It was a lot more exquisite than the others she'd seen. Even having a bathroom and kitchen. Maybe a hotel? She brushed the thought aside as she groaned as she undid her uniform and stripped down to her undershirt and boxer shorts, finishing off the casual look by putting on her glasses. Reaching over to the beer that had found their way into the Colonel's hands, Jihl took her rifle and started disassembling it.  
"Hey, that's my thing." Vaal said and glared at the blonde from the bed beside hers for a moment. With a little, annoyed huff she moved over and whispered in her ear. "Hey love."  
"Hey." Jihl sat her cleaning kit down and kissed her. "Mmm Vaal... cleaning now, kissing later."  
"Oh well aren't you boring." Vaal snickered and took a beer for herself. Sitting behind Jihl she smiled as she traced her hand down Jihl's back. "You know you're kinda stiff."  
"The hours of waiting for ministers was only made worse by how they crammed my ass into the back of a plane with a hundred or so regular soldiers who were all too chummy and wanting to talk to the Colonel of the GP." Jihl said sourly and took a good mouthful of her beer. "The flight had taken fourteen hours Vaal, fourteen long, agonising hours."  
"Well..." Vaal sat her beer down and started massaging Jihl's shoulders. "I still remember some ways to fix that. If you want me to?"  
"Mmhmm, it'd be very well appreciated." Jihl nodded and relaxed as she felt Vaal start to relieve the tension in her back. "So I guess this is the last night we'll have together."  
"Jihl... I'm trying to get you in the mood and you drop that?" Vaal rolled her eyes and tugged on the blonde's ear with her teeth. "Bad Jihly."  
"Idiot, what I meant was, it's our last night together so I want to spend it in your arms." Jihl bit her lip and looked to the chestnut eyes staring at her.  
"Aha got ya, so there are other parts that need relieving too huh?" Vaal's smiled widened as her hands traced under Jihl's shirt and over the waistband of her shorts.  
"Cleaning..." Jihl whimpered but gave very little resistance to the woman's advances.  
Vaal just grinned and kissed her cheek softly. "I am."  
"Hey Jihl, are you awake?" Lightning called out from the other side of the door.  
Vaal stopped and glared at the door. "Really, just when we were getting to the fun part."  
"Right just give me a moment! Vaal, hands to shoulders please." Jihl sighed in relief as she felt Vaal's hands retreat back up.  
Vaal pouted."You know you're kinda bossy now Jihl."  
"Well I kinda outrank you now Vaal." Jihl stated and looked at the woman now pouting. "It's Lightning, I gotta get this."  
"Should I leave you two alone?" Vaal asked and bit her lip. She was eager for the chance to see Fang's girlfriend but if it was work well then, Jihl was the boss.  
Jihl shook her head and wiggled into her lap. "No I like what you're doing with your hands, on my shoulders." She said and turned her attention to the door. "Come in."

Lightning opened the door and looked to the blonde, she hadn't expected her to be in her underpants that was for sure. "Hope I'm not disturbing you."  
Jihl smiled at her until her mind reminded her that she had more than Vaal's hands between her legs. "Oh no, you're not. What's up? My men aren't giving you trouble are they?"  
Lightning fidgeted with her uniform and frowned. "No they're very polite actually, it's just weird sitting in a room full of military uniforms. Plus seeing everyone geared up with assault rifles is somewhat unnerving."  
Jihl nodded and looked to her uniform currently laying on the floor. "Yes, it is a bit different from the police isn't it? But let me reassure you, we usually stick to lighter equipment." Jihl said, nostalgic as she looked to the grey uniform with blue highlights that Lightning was wearing, her vest had 'PPD' written across it in bold white letters. A bit different from the Bodhum uniform she had trained in but the feeling was the same. "So where's Fang run off to? I didn't think she'd leave you alone for a second." Jihl asked, curious to see that Fang had let Lightning out of her sight. The duo had stuck together since Lightning had been assigned Fang as her counsellor.  
Lightning rolled her eyes as she crossed the room and dropped her bag beside a bed across from Jihl's. "She didn't want to but I decided to skip her run for precious resources." She said with a smile.  
"Well don't tell her but I am a step ahead." Jihl laughed and offered Lightning a can of beer.  
"I thought we weren't supposed to have beer on base?" Lightning asked and happily took the can of alcohol. It was a rather expensive Cocoonian beer too, not the Pulsian crap she didn't want to admit she was getting a taste for.  
"Well let's say being an Ark slaying badass and leader of a shadowy kill squad has its benefits. A few cases of really expensive beer might have been made off in the chaos, not that I am going to say anything. You used to drink this stuff right?" Lightning nodded and took a sip. Relaxing into the bed as the liquid coursed through her. Jihl sat her alcohol aside and continued disassembling her rifle. "So how are things with you and Fang?"  
"Asking as a boss or a friend?"  
Jihl looked up at her with a reassuring smile. "A friend, Claire. So you guys are actually back together?"  
Lightning hesitated for a moment, furrowing her brows at the talk they had at her place before they left. "We're still, working things out." Her cheeks lightened into a smile as she laid back and let herself smile. "She told me everything last night."  
"Everything?" Jihl asked with concern, there were certain things they knew that were meant to stay in the dark. "Did she talk about work?"  
"No, she refused. Just said that you and her met six years ago at the 'incident'." Lightning emphasised 'incident' with finger quotations. "Oh and that you had a hot girlfriend."  
Vaal snickered in Jihl's ear and couldn't contain her amusement. "Ooh hear that, Fang thinks I'm hot. You know you've never once called me hot." Vaal pouted from her spot, nestled against Jihl's shoulder. "Well, gonna tell her about me love?" Vaal asked and frowned as Jihl remained tight-lipped, not for long. Vaal grinned as she slipped her hands under Jihl's shirt and kissed her jaw. "Or are you gonna keep me all for yourself."  
Jihl let herself sigh. "Sorry that's topic is a little sensitive, she uhh..." Jihl's chest tightened into knots as the words formed. "Things went bad, that's all I want to say.  
Lightning shook her head and winced at the pained expression her friend was wearing. "Of course Jihl, I'm sorry."  
"It's fine." Jihl said and held up her hands. "It was a long time ago but she wasn't someone you forget." Jihl said, smiling over shoulder at the blonde grinning from ear to ear.  
"Aww babe." Vaal squeaked softly and pressed herself against Jihl's back. "I love you." JIhl whispered quietly so Lightning wouldn't hear her.

Jihl smiled and as she sunk into the feeling of Vaal leaning against her. Noticing that Lightning staring at her, she furrowed her brows and glared at her. "Hey wait, we were supposed to be talking about you."  
"Well Colonel Nabaat, you know pretty much everything about me." Lightning said and looked to the door as a certain tanned brunette stumbled in with a case of beer. Her emerald eyes soured at the can in her girlfriend's hand.  
"Hey! I spent half an hour getting these. Jihl..." Fang sat the case of beer down and crossed her arms as she sat down beside Lightning. "So did Jihl tell you all my dirty secrets?"  
Lightning bit her lip in the proximity of Fang, the smell of her deodorant washing over her as she kissed Fang. "Fang I already know all your dirty secrets."  
"Ahem." Jihl cleared her throat, looking away from the duo with her cheeks turning bright red. "So I see you two made up."  
"And made out, a lot." Fang added with a wink to Jihl. Her eyes went back to Lightning who glared at the Pulsian. "What, it's nothing Jihl hasn't seen before."  
"True but I'd rather not have you shout what we do to the world, again." Lightning said bitterly as she remembered the times Fang had gotten drunk during college.  
"Yeah sorry, I had a few too many huh. But now the only thing I want to drink up is you." Fang spouted out and kissed her again, her hands gently tugging at Lightning's shirt as she pushed her down onto the bed.  
"For heaven's sake you two! Get a room and one that isn't mine." Jihl huffed, annoyed as she watched her two friends venture near dangerously arousing territory. Her attitude went from cute to oh no not this shit again and earned a laugh from Vaal at least.  
Lightning couldn't help but let herself smile as her eyes lingered on Fang for a moment longer before they turned to Jihl apologetically. "Sorry Jihl."  
"Good, you should be. I'm a sexually frustrated single twenty-six year old and I don't need to see my two hot friends getting busy in front of me, thank you very much." Jihl complained and started cleaning her gun again with renewed vigour. "God it's like college all over again..." She grumbled but her heart felt otherwise, it was a pleasant sight despite their lack of decency. After all, she was a good part of why the two had split up in the first place. She needed someone she could trust with all of this crap and Rigel and Cliff went their own ways leaving her with Fang.

Letting her lips tug into a grin, Jihl stole a look at the idiots now resigned to just hold each other. With all the world-ending crap she'd dealt with, she'd forgotten how nice it was to see the two idiots doing their thing.  
"Jealous?" Vaal teased softly as she adored the embarrassment running across Jihl's face.  
Jihl shook her head and looked at Vaal, she was being utterly ridiculous which seemingly became the norm when they weren't on the battlefield. The blonde seeing Jihl blush decided to poke her further. "Aww Jihl, you're so cute when you're jelly."  
"Vaal I'm not jealous!" Jihl stopped and she turned to Lightning and Fang who were both now looking at her. Fang's eyes looked at the space beside her but Lightning just looked concerned.  
"Jihl?" Lightning asked and watched her friend, the concern in her eyes doubling down as Jihl avoided her gaze and bit her lip.  
"I'm just tired, sorry." Jihl did her best to lie, she'd gotten proficiently good at it as a commander too but from the look Lightning was giving her she wasn't believing a word of it. "Really Lightning, I've been up for the last twenty hours now."  
"Alright." Lightning said and took a sip of her beer, not wanting to let Jihl out of her sight. She was lying, and she thought she could get away with it too but someone else had other plans.  
Fang kissed her cheek and pried her eyes away from the blonde. "Hey you."  
"Fang..." Lightning protested as the brunette snickered and pressed her down into the bed.  
"You know it is getting pretty late." Fang said softly and looked up to Jihl who was smiling at her grateful that she was getting Lightning's attention off her. "So how about we let Jihl get some sleep."  
Lightning frowned and looked to Jihl, the woman was nervously fidgeting with her cleaning kit and stealing glances at them. "Alright but we're going to sleep too."  
"Well... I uh... Could we you know... just a little?" Fang asked and smiled as Lightning rolled her eyes. She looked at the woman sitting on her hips and frowned. "It's never just a little with you."  
"Sorry, Lightning. I get a little carried away sometimes." Fang said doing her best to look innocent.  
"Sometimes?" Lightning rolled her eyes at how clingy Fang could be in the bedroom. "Going to let me up Fang?"  
"Oh, right." Fang chuckled and got to her feet, letting Lightning take her hand and lead her to the door.  
"Goodnight Jihl." Lightning said and gave the blonde one last lingering look.  
"Goodnight Claire." Jihl said and watched them leave, letting out a sigh when the door closed.

"Sorry." Vaal said and bit her lip. Her eyes brightened as Jihl cupped her chin and pulled her into a kiss.  
"You've got nothing to be sorry for." Jihl said and turned back to her cleaning kit.  
A moan escaped her as Vaal resumed massaging her shoulders. "I know but I don't want your friends to think you're crazy."  
Jihl stopped and looked at her from behind her glasses. "Vaal I'm talking to my dead girlfriend while she is giving me a massage and kissing me. I think I might be a little bit crazy."  
"Yep you're absolutely nutty and I love you all the more for it. Plus you are pretty hot when you get jealous," Vaal reached over and slowly took off Jihl's glasses. "Jihly."  
Jihl frowned at the now blurry kit in front of her. "I need those."  
"You sure about that?" Vaal asked and pulled Jihl back, leaning over, she pressed herself against Jihl's pretty pink little lips. "Jihl whatever happens tomorrow I want you to know I love you."  
"I know." Jihl said and smiled up at the blonde sitting over her. "I love you too."  
Vaal smirked as her hands ventured over the zipper on Jihl's pants. "Good, now I'm a sexually frustrated twenty-eight year old and I don't need to see my hot girlfriend in pants so take 'em off love."  
"You take them off! I can't see the zipper." Jihl frowned and shifted so she was kneeling in front of Vaal. "Vaal come a little closer, I want to see you."  
Vaal pulled on Jihl's glasses and quickly brushed her hair before she leant in. "Better?"  
"Dumbass what are you doing?" Jihl rolled her eyes and held onto Vaal.  
"Ahem, miss Nabaat you've been a very, very naughty girl. Lying to your friends, how... uncouth? Now, I'm going to have to punish you." Vaal fought back laughter as she continued. She licked her lips as her fingers tugged Jihl's zipper down and worked her out of her pants.  
"And why are you wearing my glasses?" Jihl asked and pressed her hand against the blurry face in front of her.  
"Well I thought I'd look pretty hot in your glasses don't you think?" Vaal asked and teased a hand up the inside of her leg.  
"I do, they look really good on you." Jihl muttered and blushed at the woman sitting on top her.  
"Good answer miss Nabaat. Now for the oral exam." She said with a smirk across her face. "Well? You may begin whenever you want, love."

Jihl groaned and stretched, her imagination had run her rampant last night. Not that she minded much as she stared at the sleeping blonde beside her who was still wearing her glasses. Jihl let out a frustrated sigh at being visually impaired for the entirety of their game and slowly pulled her glasses off, breathing a sigh of relief as her vision cleared. "Finally." Jihl whispered and rolled her eyes. She lingered a moment longer, simply enjoying the smiling face of the idiot beside her. Quietly she crept out of bed and to the small kitchen set up in her room. Being a colonel had it's advantages and one of those thankfully was coffee. Looking over her shoulder, Jihl winced as she boiled the kettle, hoping that the noise wouldn't wake Vaal. A soft knock on her door however, pulled her attention away.  
"Hello." Jihl crossed the room and gently inched open the door. Fang smiled at her, looking just as ragged and from Fang's appearance, she wasn't the only one that had gotten laid last night. "You look terrible."  
"You know how we said I get carried away sometimes last night? I was wrong. When Lightning handcuffs you to the bed and begs you for more, you give her more." Fang chuckled and grinned, faint blushes already forming amidst the tan of her cheeks. "Can I come in?"  
Jihl nodded and pointed over to the bed. "Sure just be quiet, she's still asleep."  
Fang nodded and walking in, looking over to the empty bed where the blankets were messily thrown about. Her lips broke into a smile as Jihl did her best to straighten her hair and regain some air of composure. "So you two..."  
"Don't ask." Jihl groaned and rubbed her shoulders that ended up being stiffer than they started. Taking two mugs, she filled them with coffee offered one to Fang. "That woman is pure evil sometimes."  
"Uhuh?" Fang asked curiously and sipped at the much-needed caffeine.  
"She stole my glasses and decided to play teacher." Jihl said wasting no time in fulfilling her own coffee addiction.  
" Oh." Fang remarked as her face went bright red. "Who knew the Major was such a tiger in the bed huh?"  
"I did. Unfortunately." Jihl groaned and sat her cup to the side, content to watch Vaal squirm in the bed for the moment.  
"Mmm Jihl, come back to bed. You can talk to her later." Vaal groaned and flailed her arm in Jihl's direction, not bothering to look over.  
"No Vaal, you can come here. Besides I'm sure Fang isn't here to discuss handcuffs?" Jihl said and looked over to the brunette who shook her head.  
"Nah I was thinking of going over the plan again for today actually." Fang leant over the counter and watched Jihl cup her hand around the air, leaning back as the Major kissed her. "Vaal, we big girls have to talk about work."  
"Well I'm working on you Jihl." Vaal snickered and let her hands hand around Jihl's waist. "Plus I outrank her."  
"She can't hear you and you know that Vaal." Jihl said and smiled as Vaal just puffed her cheeks and glared at Fang.  
"I know, otherwise she'd get an earful from me. Tell her that I think her stance is sloppy and her aim is shite." Vaal said mischievously and poked Jihl in the side. "Please love?"  
"Alright I will, now here, have some coffee." Jihl slid the cup of coffee across the counter and looked at Fang, unable to hide the smirk on her lips. "She says..."

Setting her third cup of coffee down, Jihl glanced at her watch. Nine thirty, it was nearly time to start the operation. Fang had left to help Lightning get prepared, leaving Jihl to her own preparations. Moving over to her bag she started laying out her gear across the bed, under the watchful eye of Vaal who provided very useful commentary of course.  
"Ooh a kink whip. Here I thought you kept out role play between us?" Vaal snickered as the collapsible baton in Jihl's hands.  
She just stared back at Vaal and cursed under her breath. "It is not a kink whip damn it! It is a combat baton." Jihl said and continued sorting her gear. She paused as her fingers brushed over a hand grenade, she'd always kept one handy since then. They had become somewhat of a lucky charm since then.  
"Sorry love." Vaal said softly and cupped her hand over Jihl's. "I should have thought of a better plan huh?"  
"You should have, idiot." Jihl frowned and focused on the hand on hers. Looking up at the chestnut eyes she let out a shaky breath. "Vaal..." She looked down and cursed herself for the tremors in her hand. "I'm afraid. Everything we've been through and it all comes down to this, and now Fang and Lightning are involved and I don't... I can't lose them too."  
Vaal draped her arms over Jihl's shoulders, pulling her against the soft beating of her chest. Gently she stroked Jihl's head and spoke confidently. "You won't Jihl. We're all here. You, me and Fang. You've got the best parts of the GP." Slowly she levelled with Jihl and leant in close to her lips. "No matter what happens Jihl, I'll be right there with you." Vaal couldn't help but laugh as she interlocked her fingers with Jihl's. "But keep grenades at a safe distance, got it love?"  
"Says you." Jihl pressed a finger against her chest and nudged her back to the bed. "I wasn't the one who got my hand blown off."  
"No but having you doting over me was definitely worth it." Vaal grinned as she laid back and pushed Jihl's assault rifle out of the way. Jihl crawled on top of her, brushing her hair out of her face as she leant down and took Vaal's lips. Softly brushing her own soft pink lips against them and letting a moan fill the air of the room. "Ten out of ten, would do again." Vaal breathed and dug her fingers into Jihl's shirt so she could pull her closer.  
"Ahem interrupting anything?" Fang said as she stood in the doorway. "It's nearly time to start so I figured I'd come check on you but I never figured I'd catch you in the act."  
"I'm not..." Jihl looked hastily between Vaal and Fang with her cheeks flustered, both of them were grinning at her like idiots. "It's Vaal's fault, she was tempting me." With blushes running wild across her face she got to her feet and stormed over to her things. With an annoyed pout, she started gearing up.  
"Just a second Lightning, Jihl's still in her underpants." Fang chuckled to Lightning on the other side of the door. "So you want to postpone the operation while you get busy or..."  
"No, god damn it. Just give me one moment." Jihl said and rolled her eyes. She leant down again and kissed Vaal again. She exhaled, her smile was probably going to last a while. Ignoring the butterflies in her chest, she grabbed her assault rifle. "Right, now I'm ready."

"Alright she's all dressed." Fang called out and stepped aside. Lightning came in and looked to Jihl. "Good morning." Lightning said and smiled, trying to hide the curiosity from her face as she looked over Jihl closely.  
"Good morning Lightning, did you sleep well?" Jihl asked and moved over to her coffee that was now long cold.  
"I did." Lightning said and smiled. Jihl seemed a lot better now that she presumably had some decent sleep.  
"The handcuffs help?" Jihl asked and chuckled as she took a sip of her coffee.  
Lightning looked at Fang and sighed. "Fang, what did you tell her?"  
Fang shrugged and sat it down. "Well I might have exaggerated the bit when you handcuffed me to the bed and begged-"  
"I did not beg, Fang." Lightning said and crossed her arms as she angrily stormed over to Fang, pressing a finger to her chest. "I told you to chill your hormones woman and I only handcuffed you so I could actually sleep." Lightning's angered glare didn't last long as she looked into the emerald eyes staring back at her. Her shoulders dropped as a long sigh escaped her. "What am I going to do with you?"  
"Love me, hold me and never leave me? I'm sorry Claire." Fang whispered softly and pulled Lightning close. Her hands tugged at the straps on her vest, making sure they were tight as Fang kissed her. "Light, be careful okay? I mean it, leave the cowboy stuff to me and Jihl."  
Lightning's eyes stared into her emerald eyes defiantly. "No, Fang. I don't want you putting yourself in danger either. If anyone is going to kill your ass it's going to be me."  
"Ooh that a promise Sunshine?" Fang asked and bit her lip, tempted to kiss Lightning again if not for the blood-chilling glare from Jihl.  
"Seriously those two need a room." Vaal chirped in and puffed up her cheeks.  
"They do but for some reason they always choose my room." Jihl complained. Double checking her gear, she sighed as Fang and Lightning were face eating again. "Really you two? Didn't we have the whole single horny woman talk last night?"  
"Yes but lady killer, I'm hoping to send a message here." Fang snickered and playfully winced from the punch Lightning gave her.

Jihl looked over her troops and smiled. "Men, I forgot to write my six hour speech so I'll just have to give it later, for now I'll keep it short. All that we have bled for and all that we've sacrificed over these last two years all comes down to today. Our enemy has finally showed their face and we will not let them slip away. Myself, Fang, Raines and Farron are going to move on the Ark. Rydgea, Rosch I want you to take the others and assist Colonel Winters with the evacuation effort. Questions?"  
Rydgea laughed and nudged Rosch in the side. "Nah we all dandy ain't we Roschy buddy?"  
Rosch did not share his partner's enthusiasm as he shook his head and saluted. "No ma'am."  
"Aww come on pal, we're gonna have a blast, just you watch. How bout you crack a smile?"  
Raines just shuddered and hurried off to his group with Rydgea walking casually behind him.

"Just the four of us?" Lightning asked, the GP had seventeen members and she wanted to only use four against the bulk of Freedom's members.  
Jihl nodded. "Yes it'll be easier to move through the city as a smaller group, plus our first objective is to meet up with the resistance forces and together we'll proceed. Once we reach the Ark, you and Raines are to pull back to safety."  
"Wait, you're going in the Ark with just the two of you. Jihl that's insane, Fang tell her-" Lightning's protested and looked to Fang.  
Fang put her hand on Lightning's shoulder and gave her the most reassuring smile she'd ever seen. "Lightning it's just how we do it. We've taken down five Arks now, all full of creepy crawlies and we're still kicking. You gotta trust me."  
"I do." Lightning nodded and huffed. "Alright but I'm still worried Fang."  
Fang grinned and rested her shotgun over her shoulders. "Well just you wait and watch. Up for some show boating Jihl?"  
Jihl rolled her eyes and drew her baton and winked. "You know it."  
"Ooh nice, going with the kink whip huh?" Fang said smug as Jihl seethed with anger.  
"Fang... It's not a bloody kink whip, it's a combat baton." Jihl said for the hundredth time.

Jihl rushed forward and struck down a Cie'th with her baton, making sure it didn't get up again with two rounds from her handgun. Collapsing her baton and tucking it away, she proceeded with a hail of bullets on an approaching group of crystal ridden monsters. Fang rushed to her side and covered Jihl with a blast from her shotgun that sent chunks of crystal flying in every direction.  
"Good on ammo?" Fang asked and pumped her shotgun, she was half tempted to save the ammo and switch out to her spear but with Lightning watching, she decided to play it safe. Preferring not to get an earful on any cowboy shit.  
Jihl slammed another clip into her pistol and holstered it on her belt. "I'm good. Clear?"  
Fang scanned the street carefully and nodded. "Clear. Strange, I thought there'd be more Cie'th."  
"Well remember the Bodhum Ark was mostly empty. These are likely Freedom members." Jihl looked over her shoulder to Raines and Lightning who had been ordered to keep their distance while the duo cleared out the enemies.  
"Well that makes things easier then huh?" Fang remarked and looked over to Jihl who was looking down at her map. "How are we going?"  
"Not much farther just a few more blocks. The place we're looking for is Nora House so keep your eyes peeled."  
"Nora house? I know where that is." Lightning said reluctantly as her mind put a face to the resistance Jihl mentioned.  
"Oh right you lived here." Fang said and winced as Lightning at stared at her.  
"Yes and you did too Fang. Serah used to drag me to see her boyfriend and you never wanted to go."  
"I had-"  
"OH FOR FUCK SAKE!" Jihl said, alarming everyone with her outburst. She groaned and hung her head in her hands. "Lightning you're screwing with me right?"  
"Nope. I think your little resistance might be him." Lightning said sharing her enthusiasm.  
"I cannot punch him in the face, I cannot punch him in the face..." Jihl mumbled to herself as she started walking again.  
"What's wrong with this guy?" Fang asked as she walked beside Lightning, curious to Jihl's sudden outburst.  
Lightning frowned and stared at anything but fang as she threatened to tear up. "Serah's condition was his fault. Him and his idiot friends got her involved in their crap." Her eyes darted up to Fang as the Pulsian put her arm around her shoulders.  
"Sorry Lightning, I should have gone. I wouldn't have had to wait so long." Fang snickered and kissed her cheek. "I'll hit him for you."  
"Fang you shouldn't..."

Jihl threw the door of Nora House open and squinted at the occupants lining the bar. They all turned around and a tall blonde in a bandanna and a white coat approached her.  
"Hey are you the- Guahh!" The man recoiled and collapsed against the bar. Jihl smiled at having hit the idiot. "The hell?"  
"Serah was my sister too asshole!" Jihl growled and eyed the other resistance members that had shot to their feet, their guns all now pointed at the blonde.  
"Wait you must be Jihl right? Serah used to talk about you all the time. Easy guys, you can't kill my sis- Lightning! You're here too?"  
Lightning eyed him from the door and didn't say a word. Suddenly remembering Fang, she latched onto her wrist and stopped the Pulsian from continuing from where Jihl left off.  
"Aww come on Sunshine, you're not gonna let me deck the bloody idiot?" Fang said and looked at him, a bright red mark on his face. "Alright fine, looks like Jihl hit him hard enough anyway."  
Jihl smiled as she regained her air of composure. "Good now that that's out of the way, I take it you're the leader of the resistance?"  
"Yeah, jeez you hit hard." The man said and pointed his thumb at himself. "Snow Villiers. So Jihl, you're the leader of the GP huh?"  
Jihl ignored his question and continued. "So how are you getting us inside?"  
"Right, you're just like Serah described you huh. We use a sewer system to get in. When that thing dropped it went pretty deep underground, far enough to punch a few holes in the sewer system."  
Jihl moved over to the bar and laid her map out over the counter. "Alright, show me where."  
"Right here." Snow said and took a pen from the bartender. Looking at the mark on the paper, it was close. Made sense that it was really, more sense than she'd expected from this idiot that was for sure.  
Jihl packed up her map and stuffed it in her bag. "Alright thank you Mister Villiers. Have a nice day."  
"Wait we're coming with you. These bastards gotta pay for what they did to Serah." Snow said and punched his fists together.  
"No you are not. Honestly you should be glad I'm not charging you with terrorism and trespassing." Jihl scoffed and took another step towards the door when the familiar click of their guns reached her ears. She looked at Fang who was ready to go and she shook her head. Her fingers traced up the length of her baton as a cold smile crossed her face. "I would really advise against that."

"I would listen to her." A grizzly voice called out from a table adorned with a bottle of whiskey. "She's picked up a pretty nasty record as a commander. See once there were these freedom guys in Palumpolum, bunch of kids barely old enough to hold a gun... well you don't want to hear the details. Suffice to say she wiped them away like dust." Cliff clicked his fingers and shot them a grin. "Poof, they were gone. Lone commander saves the day. There were twenty of them. Now in your condition Mister Villiers, known terrorist and seeing how you were responsible for her sister's death... I think you really oughta buy the lady a drink instead." Cliff said walked over to Jihl as intimidating as he could be in a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of beach shorts. His eyes looked a lot older than Jihl remembered them as they softened and he looked at her for the first time in five years. "Hey terminator." He said and smiled when he saw she was looking okay.  
Jihl however looked at him stunned. "Cliff? What are you doing here?"  
The blonde shrugged and tucked his hands in his pockets. "Well I was on vacation and really just trying to pick up some cuties and... ooh who knew hotties came in pink." Cliff ogled Lightning, his joyful demeanour growing as he also noticed Fang was here too, brooding beside the woman.  
"She's taken Cliff, so hands off." Fang cut in and stepped between Lightning and Cliff. "Hey, it's been ages. Damn you got old."  
"Hey Fang, and damn you got scary." Cliff chuckled as he saw the tattoo's on her arms and her bulkier figure. The scars helped too. "So that's Lightning huh? Gotta say you did pretty well for yourself Fang. But to get back to your question Jihl. Funtime may have picked up wind of something pretty big going down and I just happened to be in the area."  
"Yes, sure you were." Jihl rolled her eyes as she watched him go back to his table and grabbed his kit. "I'm guessing the assault rifle and body armour are apart of your pick up line?"  
"Oh yeah, you know it. See I buy a girl a drink and asks if she wants to take a shot at me, works like a charm."

"Hey Jihl, I guess the family's all reunited huh." Vaal whispered in her ear and pointed over to a table in the corner where Vaal had spotted a sleeping figure hunched over the table in a very uncomfortable position for a person of his size.  
"Wait is that?" Jihl asked and pointed to the man. Cliff followed her gaze over to him and laughed. "Oh right, I was supposed to wake him up when you got here. Poor guy flew here this morning when he got word of the what you were pulling. That was after running his bakery for ten hours too. What a dumbass."  
With an evil grin across her face, Vaal leant over to Jihl and whispered in her ear, the blonde shared a laugh with her and nodded. "Ahem. Good morning, daddy."  
"OH SON OF A BITCH!" Rigel shouted, suddenly alert as he looked around. "Where the hell... Jihl? Urgh you know you've turned into a bad egg over the years, kid."  
"Well of course, you guys all left me alone." Jihl said, fighting her urge to laugh as he towered over her and pulled her into a hug.  
"Hey, you alright?" He asked, his arms not relenting in the hug.  
Jihl shook her head and buried herself in the safety of his arms. "No, I just want it to end Rigel."  
He hugged her tighter. "I know kid, let's get this finished alright?"  
"Hey I'm not a kid any more, it's Colonel Nabaat now." Jihl said and puffed up her cheeks.  
"I know lady-killer. So you got someone your fighting for?" Rigel asked, breaking apart from her and giving her a look over. She had turned into a fine woman since he last saw her.  
"No, I haven't." Jihl said and closed her eyes as she felt Vaal's presence behind her. Looking up she caught Cliff smiling as he winked at her.

"Alright so how about you kids put your guns down so I can get some coffee before we head off yeah? Stuff here is the best, Narissa gets it every time she comes to get her tattoos done."  
Jihl's eyes widened at the mention of tattoos, it was certainly unexpected. She'd always pictured Narissa as a bubbly motherly type woman. "Huh? She has tattoos?"  
"Yep, she had her whole arm just about done by now and she's got some in more uhh... other places." Rigel said and blushed ever so slightly, although it was hard to see on the tan of his skin. "There's an artist here, guy runs a shop called the Pulsian Etiquette, only person she'll let touch her with needles. " His eyes brightened as Lebreau handed him a coffee. "Thank you. Now Jihl you should let these kids help. Make them hold the perimeter or something while we go in."  
"Rigel, I had preferred it when I had forgotten their presence." Jihl's sour attitude crumbled into an agitated groan under Rigel's fatherly gaze. "Fine, I'll consider it. But if you're having a coffee than I will have one too."

"Mmm." Jihl hummed at the taste of the coffee between her hands, the stuff back at base tasted like dirt in comparison.  
"Well I'm glad you like it." Lebreau said with a confident smile.  
Jihl looked up at her and smiled back, the woman looked better without a gun in her hands. "I like it as much as I like you not pointing your gun at me."  
Lebreau rubbed the back of her head and apologised, "Yes, sorry about that. We're all just riled up and Snow especially, he lost everything trying to protect the people he loves. Surely you get that?"  
Jihl slowly slumped her head. "I do and I promise I won't kill the idiot, now do you mind? I prefer to drink alone." She asked in her usual cold tone but Lebreau kept her smile.  
"No problem, if you need anything just give me a call." Lebreau turned and hurried back to the bar.  
"Alright well I'm gonna go talk to moody broody over there. Nice to meet you Lightning." Cliff chuckled and carried his coffee over to Jihl, leaving Rigel, Fang and Lightning to get acquainted.

"Hey Colonel, this seat taken?" He asked and waited for Jihl to nod permission for him to sit down, "I thought you might want to talk." Cliff stated as he sat down. His calming blue eyes watching her.  
"Regarding the operation, I don't want to take the others so the strike force will-"  
Cliff held up his hand and pointed at the seat beside her. "I meant Vaal."  
"Vaal? What about her?" Jihl said, tightening her grip around her cup.  
"I do, but do you?" Cliff said and asked, his eyes watching her every movement.  
Jihl gulped and cleared her throat. "I know. Remember I was the one that sat with her in the hospital."  
Cliff just smiled as he crossed his arms and leant over his coffee. "You know Jihl my last job made me really perceptive to the little things, like the way you smile when you look to your side. The attentive little glances into thin air. The way you're holding your hand over hers." Jihl looked down at her hand, she only just realised she was holding Vaal's hand. She quickly removed her hand and put it around her cup instead.

Taking a sip his grinned stretched across his face. "So do you want to know more about her? I don't know how much she told you but I doubt it was much. She was a stubborn idiot when it came to the people she cared about."  
"She wasn't!" Jihl snapped. Looking around nervously, she sighed in relief that no one had paid much attention to her sudden outburst. "Sorry. She was never stubborn when she was with me."  
"But she never told you about her past did she? That she was an assassin? She definitely didn't tell you that we slept together." Cliff watched the annoyed look on Jihl's face turn to anger.  
"Cliff... don't. Not with her." She growled at him. Her lips turning into a frown.  
Cliff ignored her warning and continued. "Jihl you should know, it'll make you feel better I promise and besides I had to listen to that idiot going on about you for hours and hours back at the 'incident'. So we'd just killed a guy, mister x or whatever point is I got pretty screwed. Some ass with a shotgun popped out and I took the shot for her. So she carried me to her little safe house in Old town, you know the place." He lit a cigarette between his lips and chuckled at the murderous glare Jihl was giving him right now. "Easy Jihl, she made me promise to never tell anyone about it and I keep my promises. We spent the night drinking as she patched me up and then one thing led to another. The morning after I woke up alone, Vaal was smoking in the kitchen. She, being the asshole she was, gave her remark as much consideration as one our targets. If I remember correctly she said that night before made her feel so hollow that I had put her off sex forever, she laughed at about it too. I mean damn, talk about stepping on a guy's pride. But when you guys got together at base, she went on for hours and hours about you." Cliff sat his cigarette down in the ashtray on the table. "She made me promise to get you through this alive and I keep my promises Jihl. When we go into the Ark, don't do anything stupid okay? Whatever happens down there, you walk away. Got it?"  
"Got it." Jihl said and sat her cigarette down. "So you knew her?"  
"Mhmm, safe to say that I do. I'll tell you all about her afterwards but for now-" Cliff gulped down the rest of his coffee and stood up with his cigarette in his mouth. "We got a city to save."


	9. Chapter 9

Brass and Lightning: The Last Ark

* * *

Jihl pushed through the alleyways behind Nora House with a growing number of troops following behind her. Snow was at her shoulder, whispering directions as they pushed their way through the countless alleyways that would lead them to the sewers. "Contacts, Freedom." Jihl said quietly and quickly signalled everyone to stop as she peeked around the corner.

"Are we gonna take them?" Snow asked and checked the sub-machine gun he was carrying, dumb smile across his face as he went through the numerous checks Serah had drilled him through in their time together. Jihl shook her head and looked over her shoulder. "No my men will take them. Cliff form up, you're on point with me. Snow, you and the others hold position. Take the two on the right Cliff, I'll take the left."

Cliff nodded. Without making a sound, he moved across the tight stretch of the alley to a section of a wall that jutted out and obscured him from the extremist's view.

Jihl turned to Snow, as a colonel and gave him a look that told him how much of his shit she would tolerate, none. "You're in my op now so you follow my orders without question or you can high tail your ass back to the cafe. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Snow nodded and was Jihl was surprised by his seriousness. Somehow managing to not give off his usual aura that Jihl found oh so annoying.

"Good. Hold position, do not engage unless I or Fang tell you to." Jihl said firmly and turned her eyes back to the terrorists in the alleyway. Moving out of cover she closed the distance between her targets, managing to move up close enough to roughly make out the details of their faces. Whether they were being careless or were just poorly trained wouldn't matter in a few moments as she drew a steady breath and levelled her rifle. Two shorts bursts of her rifle hit the freedom soldiers, followed by another two almost at the exact same time from Cliff. They never even knew it was coming as they fell to the ground. Jihl waited and checked for any reinforcements that would have heard the gunshots. Cliff tapped her shoulder a moment later. "Clear."

"Got it." Jihl whispered and with a wave of her hand signalled Fang to bring the others up with her.

"Jihl, why don't you use suppressors?" Cliff asked curious.

"He still doesn't get it." Vaal said with a disapproving shake of her head. "Tell him for me love?"

Jihl looked at him and smirked, just a little bit. "We don't use suppressors because we don't meow Cliff, we bloody roar."

"Really? God that woman was an idiot." Cliff shook his head and let out a disapproving sigh.

"Hold up, it's here." Snow said and with the help of Gadot, moved the dumpster covering the sewer entrance. "So we guide you to the Ark and then what?" Snow asked, puffing up his chest as to not appear intimidated by the smaller woman. He was.

"Well mister Villiers, you will be under the command of Lieutenant Raines until my team returns." Jihl said with a cold smile.

"Alright I'll-"

Jihl crossed her arms and glared at him. "Whatever happened to ladies first?"

"Alright then, ladies first." Snow stepped back and let her take the ladder first.

"Cliff, I want you and Rigel to follow after me and then Raines give us five minutes before you proceed. If the sewers are connected to the Ark I want to clear the Cie'th out first."

"Oi what about me?" Fang asked, a little hurt that she being left out of the party. "I'm old team too y'know."

"I know but someone has to keep Lightning safe. Or would you rather leave her with Snow?" Jihl asked and cast a sour look to the hulking idiot. "Plus I need someone experienced to stay in case things go south up here."

"Alright fine I'll keep everyone in line just watch yourself down there alright."

"I will Fang. I'll see you in five." Jihl flashed her a smile before continuing down the ladder.

Jihl's boots clinked against the metal walkway of the sewers. The smell was something she'd hoped to never have to deal with in her career. Looking around however confirmed her previous suspicions, a small horde of Cie'th had already begun amassing in the sewers. "Hey Rigel, go back up and get Raines to radio in that the Cie'th are in the sewers. Winters needs to get his men down here ASAP."

"Yes ma'am." Rigel nodded and started back up the ladder.

Cliff's smile widened as he stopped beside Jihl. He was still unnerved by the Cie'th having only encountered a scarce few on his departure from the Ark, those however were tame. These ones roared and howled all beast-like but Jihl's eyes darted between them without even a hint of concern.

Reaching down and drawing her pistol, she checked her magazine before she started her approach.

"You want a hand with this one?" Cliff asked quietly.  
Jihl raised a hand and waved. She could easily handle this many on her own. "Sure, if you want." She said cockily and turned her eyes back towards the Cie'th. Calmly marching her way towards the horde, Jihl smiled as they acknowledged her presence and went into their aggressive mode, letting out chilling wails as they started shambling towards her. She met them with two rounds from her pistol and then another two for the one beside it. A lunge came from her side but she readily stepped out of its path with her hand already drawing her baton. With a grunt she brought the length of the baton across it's face and sent it reeling into the wall, quickly following up with a flow of strikes on her other attackers. Looking at the five Cie'th appearing before her, she smiled as she laid her rifle down and drew her pistol with her free hand. She charged with the rapid tap of her boots and threw her baton, striking one of the monsters in the throat before she quickly shot the one beside and caught her baton before it hit the ground. Lifting herself up, she continued the flow as she raised her baton against a Cie'th and swung behind her to block the one behind her. Nearly tempted to drop a one-liner, a bad habit she'd picked up from Fang. She opted for just introducing it to the business end of her pistol. She fired until it clicked dry and the Cie'th feel lifelessly to the floor. It's friend however was quite eager for her attention.

Cliff watched Jihl with a frown adorning his face. Every time an opportunity showed itself for him to step in Jihl was already there which left him helplessly watching on the sidelines. Not that she looked like she needed help as she danced around the monsters. A dozen or so more Cie'th had joined the fight but Jihl barely acknowledged them and just kept working away at them. Pirouetting back over to her rifle, she dropped down low, collapsing her baton, tucking it away and picking up her rifle in one graceful movement. Her pistol followed and found it's way into her holster as she stood up and started firing with her rifle.

"Hey I thought guns were useless?" Cliff asked as he rushed to her side, finally able to move in. His own gunfire proved to be less than useful. A hand caught his attention and offered him a magazine.

"Anti-armour rounds, they were approved for GP use." Jihl said and cast a glance over the pile of dead monsters. "I've only got a few so make them count."

"Really? Come on, you could have saved me some." Rigel complained as he stepped down from the ladder and watched the last of the Cie'th fall to the ground. Jihl and Cliff turned their attention to Rigel who shook his head. "Jeez I can't believe I flew all this way just to miss the action." Rigel chuckled, impressed by the carnage in front of him.

"It was all terminator here." Cliff said and took the magazine, swapping out his regular rounds.

"Damn Jihl, you got tough huh?" Rigel commented, still somewhat in awe of what the woman had just tore through.

"Mhm." Jihl nodded and went to push her glasses up, remembering she was wearing contacts as her fingers touched her nose. "I had to since you two were off picking up girls."

"Hey I was married, there's a difference. I couldn't just run off on my wife you know." Rigel said and softened. "Hell, I'm gonna get shit for just being here."

"Wait why?" Jihl asked.

Rigel gave Jihl a grin and rubbed his neck. "Well umm my being here is a tad unofficial. I mean I'm not even a soldier any more. Plus Narissa hates when I talk about you, she doesn't like you very much. So after Cliff let me know what you were up to I sorta snuck out and flew here without anyone knowing."

"Well she's a smart woman, trouble follows me wherever I go and besides she can hate me all she wants. It's not like I'll ever have to meet her." Jihl shrugged, propping herself up against the wall as she waited for the others. Looking deflated as she lit herself a cigarette.

Cliff pulled her into a headlock and scowled. "Oi dumbass don't go being such a downer alright. We finally all get back together and you wanna talk about that crap? No wonder you're still single."

"Hey! It's because I'm faithful unlike you. Vaal is the only one I cared about." Jihl growled and wiggled.

"Yeah well I know she'd love to kick your ass right now too!"

"Oh bring it playboy!" Jihl grunted and squirmed from the headlock Cliff had managed to pull her into and looked to Rigel when she couldn't break out.

Rigel just stepped back and shook his head. "Oh no this is your fight. I learnt that it's best to let the punches roll you know."  
"Oh I promise there will be punches if Cliff doesn't let me go!" Jihl proclaimed and stared daggers at him.

"Alright tiger, just don't get so worked up." Cliff chuckled and stepped out of Jihl's range. "You should enjoy life you know, you're what twenty six years old now?"  
"Yeah, thanks for reminding me." Jihl rolled her eyes, the years had really snuck up on her.

"And you never even had a birthday party did you?" Cliff narrowed his eyes and watched Jihl cast a look to her side.

"N-No, I was busy, working." Jihl huffed and closed her eyes, preferring to focus on the woman standing beside her.

"Hey, Jihl-" Cliff broke into her space and pulled her into a hug. "I know your birthday is still four days away and all, January third right?" Jihl nodded. "But happy birthday."

Jihl puffed up her cheeks and pried him off of her. "Thank you, now give me a moment. I need to at least look like a commander when the others come."

"It's here." Snow stopped and pointed to the sealed door impressively towering in front of the group. The words 'emergency exit' were so faded they could barely be read in the eerie light of the sewers.

"Hmm honestly I'm a little surprised you kept to your word." Jihl said astonished. "Now Raines, there's been a change of plans. I want you and the others to sweep the sewers and clear out the Cie'th. We can't risk them using the sewers to spread beyond the city. Keep on the radio and rendezvousing with either Winter's or our men is your top priority before you engage."

"Yes ma'am." Raines nodded and turned to the leader of the resistance. "Mister Villiers, I assume you are okay with this?"

Snow nodded and pointed a finger at Jihl. "Yeah, just promise me one thing Jihl. Promise me that you'll do what's right when you get in there. This thing has to die."

"I know and that I will promise you, Villiers." Jihl said with the uttermost seriousness in her voice. She turned to her team and gave them a nod. "Alright Fang, Rigel and Cliff, let's go."

"Wait." Lightning said and hurried over to Jihl. "I'm going with you."

Jihl sighed as she looked at her. "No Lightning you are not. It's too dangerous besides I can only take GP members past this point."

Lightning's brows narrowed as she hissed. "I am GP aren't I? Temporary or whatever bullshit you called it to put me in this mess so you could keep an eye on me."

"Lightning please?" Jihl's face gave way to the worry she hid underneath. "We've all done this before so what we know what we're doing but bringing you along, it's risky, dangerous."

"So what, I'm a liability to you?" Lightning asked in a bitter tone. "You just dragged me along for what, fun? So you can dote on me and be my big sister for one moment and now that it's serious you're just sending me away?"

"No, you're not. It's just... You're my sister Lightning! I've already lost Serah, I don't want to lose you too."

Lightning nodded, hating herself for understanding where Jihl was coming from. "I know, I lost her too. But Jihl I don't want to lose you either, or Fang. You're the only family I've got left." Lightning said sorrowfully and gripped Jihl's hands tighter. "Please Jihl?"

Rigel looked at them and smiled, it was nice to see that someone could get Jihl so emotionally worked up. "Hey Jihl, bring the kid along. I'll baby sit."

Taking a deep breath, Jihl stared into the cerulean eyes in front of her and forced down her worries. "Fine but I swear if you get even a scratch on you I will scold you for the rest of your life, got it?"  
"Got it." Lightning broke into a smile and loosened up her grip on Jihl. "Thank you Jihl."

"Here, your bullets are going to be good for nothing. Stay behind Rigel and do everything he says okay?" Jihl said, holding her two spare magazines out for Lightning. "Oh and if I say anything weird, anything at all you don't remember it okay? As far as anyone is concerned you went with Raines, you cleared out sewers, got it?"

Lightning looked at Jihl, her seriousness made Lightning's skin crawl. "Yes, I got it."

Jihl took a deep breath and crossed over the threshold into the Ark. "Jihlian, Vaal are you there?"

"Mhmm." Vaal nodded and checked over her rifle as she kept pace beside Jihl. "So we're finally doing it?"  
"We are. Let's get this over with Vaal. I want you to take point, I'll be right behind you."

Vaal leant in and pecked Jihl on her cheek. "Got it love." With a teasing wiggle she hurried down to the first corner and poked her head out. "Clear." She called back and disappeared around the corner to scout up ahead.

"Alright Jihlian what are we dealing with?" She asked and looked to the teenager.

"First you need to find the central elevator that will take you to the labs. I can't tell if it's been disabled by Freedom yet and I don't believe it will be. You can take it down into the restricted area."

Jihl nodded and kept her eyes front. "I'm guessing it's going to be like the first time?"

There was a pause for a moment, that gave her reason for concern until Jihlian smiled reassuringly at her. "Yes but there won't be thousands of crazy Cie'th this time, maybe."

"So you can access the controls?" Jihl asked as her eyes scanned the hallways as they proceeded.

Jihlian nodded and gave her a proud smirk. "We are the highest level administrator after all. Yuderris oversaw the entirety of the Ark project. As a safety measure she encoded a self destruct mechanism into the genetics of all the clones."

"Alright so hit the big red button and it's done?" Jihl asked and cast a glance over her shoulder, thankfully the others were out of distance of her whispering.

"It will be. The fail safe erases all data regarding the Ark projects as well. It was designed in case of Cocoon taking control of the Arks. There's just one other thing you should know. Jihl you know that when you push the button-"

"I'll die too, yeah." Jihl said bluntly and shrugged. "I don't really care at this point. I mean I haven't exactly been living these past five years and besides what the hell would I even do when this over? Go to a beach and pick up babes like Cliff." Jihl shook her head at the ridiculousness of the idea. "No, I'm ready for this to be over Jihlian." Jihl frown deepened as she looked up at the towering stairwell they had to climb first. "Oh yeah, I'm definitely ready for this to be over."

Jihlian finally nodded and stopped at the correct doorway they had to take but only after thirty seven flights of stairs. Performing one last check on her rifle, Jihl slowly opened the door and crept inside. It was empty, abandoned except for a few dead security guards. Thankfully the architecture of the Arks all seemed the same. Just a few more corridors and she was the glass doors that led to the elevator lobby.

"Jihl, contacts." Vaal looked through the tall bulletproof glass door and at the group of soldiers inside. There were seven of them all armed with assault rifles. "How do you want to proceed?"

"Like normal." Jihl said and rolled her eyes at the woman sharing her enthusiasm.

"Sheesh love, you can show a bit of emotion." Vaal scowled at Jihl with a grin tugging at her lips.

"What? Killing is easy, point and shoot." Jihl shrugged earning her a punch from Vaal. "Or like Lightning says, a target is a target." Jihl chuckled.

"Contacts?" Cliff asked and took position behind her.

"Mhmm, Vaal's pointman." She said without thinking.

Cliff looked at her in confusion. "Vaal is pointman?"

Jihl sighed and cursed herself for the slip up, she had hoped to avoid the topic. With a pre-emptive groan, she pointed to the end of the hall where the blonde was pressed up against the doorway. "She is."

"Uhuh, right. You know you're batshit crazy right Jihl?" Cliff asked and shakily chuckled.

"I know. You really think I would have made it this far with my sanity intact?" Jihl didn't bother waiting for an answer,

"A dead woman is scouting for us Jihl." Cliff said and tagged behind her. His eyes dropped at her response. "That's deep end crazy."

"Yeah? Well a dead woman is leading you too." Jihl retorted and looked the empty space beside Vaal. "Right, that many huh. Hmm that's going to be trouble."

Cliff pressed against the wall and looked at her. "So wait how does that even work?"

"What?" Jihl turned her attention to him.

"The whole scouting thing? I mean if you know you're crazy right how do you know the information is good?"

Jihl gave him the most confidence bolstering shrug she could manage. "I dunno, at first it was weird but she's led me and Fang this far."

"Oi Fang, you know Jihl's talking to Vaal right?" Cliff asked.

The Pulsian looked to Jihl who nodded and gave her permission to speak. "Yep, she bloody comes in handy that's for sure. Why is something wrong?"

Cliff's shoulders sunk down and he shook his head, there was really no use fighting it now. "Nah, you two wouldn't have made it this far on your own but damn, why the hell do you get psychic powers?"

"Mental instability and the fact that I'm about to conduct genocide on my entire race. Be at ease human, I come in peace." Jihl spouted out cheerfully and laughed. "Ready guys?" She asked and looked to everyone who nodded in response.

"Welcome back Doctor Yuderris. It has been three hundred and twenty three days since your last systems access. I hope you have been well." The system voice called out as the door unlocked.

"Huh what was that noise?" Steve looked to his buddies who shrugged at him. They had over four hundred soldiers in the floors above them holding off the army, with the help of the ascended of course. "Hey you guys wanna radio up and check with the guys up top." Steve said before he looked to Jim as he moved over to the door. They were told not to touch anything but the door was definitely not flashing before. Readying his gun he slowly approached it and looked at the door There was nothing he could see through the door. Must have been some system fault because of the High Priest fiddling with the Ark controls.. His eyes went wide as it suddenly opened and Jihl suddenly appeared and put two rounds into his chest. Before the others could react, she grabbed him and used him as a human shield as she charged over to cover. Throwing his bullet ridden corpse aside, she put another round in him just to make sure he stayed down. Leaning out from her cover, she opened fire on the Freedom troops hunkered against the door to the lab who were now soley focused on the intruder. "Cliff, push up!" She shouted over the gunfire and continued shooting.

Cliff darted out into the storm of bullets and rolled into cover just a few metres from her.

"Get Reinforcements down here, NOW!" One of the freedom members shouted and emptied his magazine on the attackers.

"Jihl you need to lock down the room now." Vaal said and looked around for a terminal. "There at the other entrance. If you put the system into a lockdown it'll work."

"Alright." Jihl mumbled and peered out from cover, the dozen or so troops were pinning her and Cliff down pretty well even with Rigel, Fang and Lightning providing support from the doorway. "Cliff cover me." Jihl said and darted out of cover, narrowly dodging the gunfire that the exposed Colonel warranted as she darted over to the panel and slammed the lockdown button. A bullet ripped into her vest and she threw herself behind whatever cover she could find, gritting her teeth through the pain.

"Jihl?" Cliff shouted and laid out some bullets on the bastards.

"I'm fine." She called out.

"God I wish we could just grenade these bastards." Cliff grumbled and shot at them, managing to catch one of them in the chest. Unfortunately they decided to camp down near the electronics on the door to the lab which added to the trouble Jihl and Cliff were having with carefully hitting them.

"Someone call for me?" Fang asked and sat her shotgun down with a grin stretched across her face. Stretching her arms over her head, she groaned. "It's been a while."

"Fang, what are you doing?" Lightning growled as she sensed Fang was about to do something reckless.

Fang stopped midway of unbuckling her armour and gave Lightning her the most reassuring smile she could pull. "Oh just you know, it's kinda hard to move around in this stuff."

"Fang..." Lightning's said sternly as the woman picked up her spear. "Fang!"

"Love ya Sunshine, bye!" Fang ducked under Lightning's grasp and danced out into the room. Her body shifting and turned, avoiding the attacker's bullets with ease. Leaping over their cover, her lips tugged into a smirk as she landing with a flourish, quickly bringing her spear through the first terrorist. Her body flowed as she wreaked havoc on them, their weapons useless in such close proximity to the Pulsian and her spear.

Cliff drew his pistol and rushed in. He pressed his gun to the head of a terrorist who was about to open fire and grinned. "Hey kid, how about you drop that?" He said and looked to Fang who had her spear pressing into the kid's vest deep enough to draw blood. Thankfully being pincered from both sides seemed to knock some sense into him as he dropped his gun and surrendered. Fang proceeded to cuff the terrorist.

Fang's proud smirk however faded as she saw Lightning coming across the room in a manner befitting of her name. "Oh shit."

"Fang how could you-" Lightning started angrily. Fang cut her off and pulled her tight against her. Looking into Lightning's upset eyes, she smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Hey I'm okay." Fang winced as Lightning hit her chest.

Lightning pulled Fang tight against her. "You're too damn reckless." Lightning frowned as she handed Fang her vest. "You promised we'd both make it out."

Fang nodded and bit her lip as she closed the distance between them. Leaning in slowly, she brushed her lips over Lightning's before pressing a small kiss to them. "I know Claire and I promise we will. I just gotta be badass sometimes y'know."

"Oi you lovebirds, what about me?" Jihl grunted as she came over. The pain burning in her abdomen was now forced behind her training. "Where's my hugs and kisses?" She asked jokingly.

"You could have just asked love." Vaal said and moved to Jihl's side. Her eyes betrayed the concern she held as she looked the blonde up and down. "Jihl..."

"It's fine, it didn't go through." Jihl said through gritted teeth, wincing as she forced herself upright. Not caring for the other's concerned looks as she acknowledged Vaal's presence with a smile.

She relaxed as Vaal's posture softened as the chestnut eyes examined her over again and again. "Alright love but be careful okay, I can't lose you." Vaal whispered softly and gently took her hands in her own. Her lips tugged a little further as she leant in kissed Jihl.

"Ahem, give the woman some privacy won't ya." Fang growled at the others. Jihl nodded and turned her attention back to Vaal. "Go get 'em tiger. I'm waiting for you, okay?"

"Alright." Jihl whispered and sucked her breath. Vaal's words helped her through the pain more than her training did. "Now everyone, I can't tell you what to expect inside. I would say more Cie'th and a handful of FLG soldiers. Our top priority is to secure the controls and ensure that Freedom can no longer use the facility." Jihl did one last check on her rifle as she pushed up to the door. "Lightning and Fang I want you to provide cover fire and move up only when we tell you. Also be ready for a pincer attack by the possibility of reinforcements. You're on overwatch, so make sure to cover our asses. Rigel, Cliff, I want you waist deep with me, clear?"

Both men nodded and stacked up on her. "Wouldn't have it any other way Jihly." Cliff chuckled and nodded to her.

Jihl pushed in to the room and quickly moved behind cover. The room was similar to the first Ark but was a lot more smaller, this one only containing two tanks instead of six. A handful of soldiers were ready and waiting for them, clearly having heard the commotion from before. Immediately they shrouding Jihl and her team in gunfire but stopped when an elderly man dressed in elaborate white-gold robes raised his hand. "Hold your fire." He commanded in a deep cold voice and looked to the intruders with his mouth tugged into a smirk. "I must commend you for your efforts Colonel Nabaat. You have done quite admirably, stumbling in the dark and grasping at shadows. Even though you have disrupted our efforts considerably I look upon you with not hatred but pity. You have been exposed to the Ark's greatness more than anyone yet you resist it's gift? Despite knowing the potential that the Ark's bestow upon humanity? Allow me foolish child you to show you the truth of it's power."

Jihl rolled her eyes. She had lucked out on not getting a bad guy monologue so far and she was just minutes away from retirement. "I'm fine not being a freakish monster thank you very much."

"Monsters..? bah, ignorance. They are no more monsters than any man, woman or child. I had hoped you of all people would see the true potential of the gift. This is a step forward for all of humanity. No longer shall we bend our knee to the frail call of mortality. No longer shall foolish governments and their people quarrel of the petty differences of race or religion. Pulsian and Cocoon, the hatred that divides us, all gone in an instant. In its place a glorious union of creation. All we have to do is open ourselves to this gift Colonel. We shall be of one people, one mind. Is that not the peace humanity seeks?" A bullet answered his question as it whizzed past his face, leaving a trail of blood across his cheek. His brows furrowed and he slowly retreated to safety. "A pity. It would seem you are destined to remain a fumbling child. Men dispose of them. They cannot stand in the way of destiny!"

Jihl sighed in relief as gunfire resumed. She silently thanked who ever had the mind to design bulletproof lab counters. "Cliff, Rigel. Fuck them up."

"Yes ma'am." Cliff gave her a salute and gladly carried out the order. Taking his anger on having his vacation cut short on their enemies as a trio of knives sailed through the air and struck their targets in the throat. Short bursts from Fang and Lightning kept the extremist's pinned as Jihl pushed across the room aggressively and Cliff and Rigel followed in turn. She faced the bullets happily with Vaal running beside her. Leaning over the makeshift cover, Jihl shot two of the guards and ducked back behind cover. The soldiers panicked as their attention was now split between the Colonel and her troops.

"Men fear not!" Dysley shouted as his fingers brushed against the keyboard. "Your brothers shall join you as we repel the enemy!" With his arm cast out, the pods behind him hissed and open. From amongst the liquid that spilled out, so too dropped the Cie'th inside of them. Their hideous malformed crystalline bodies shambling to life.

"Jihl for god sake, wait up!" Cliff shouted and darted out of cover after the Colonel. Another knife left his hands and put down an over confidant soldier who tried to take a shot at him.

"When did you get so good with knives?!" Jihl shouted as she poked out and lit up a line of soldiers with her rifle before quickly disappearing back out of view.

"Vaal and I were super assassins remember! Live through this and I'll tell you!" Cliff shouted and broke through. His eyes widened as his bravado had led him to the business end of a shotgun. Before he could draw his gun, the punk took a bullet to the head and fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Hey, you live through this too dumbass!" Rigel yelled and shoved him out of the way, taking a burst of gunfire to his vest. Gritting his teeth, he rolled out of the way and collapsed beside Cliff. "You owe me a damn drink and you promised you'd actually show up at the bakery with your husband." Cliff huffed and panted as he caught his breath and gave the terrorists some gunfire of his own.

"Wait! Cliff is gay?!" Jihl shouted and looked over to them in confusion. "Wait a minute, you're married too?!"

"Yeah, why's that so hard to believe?"

"Well you know, you don't look the marrying type!" Jihl shouted and shoot a few more terrorists that were hell bent on drowning out their conversation with bullets.

"Yeah I know, Dean tells me I smile to much to be married." Cliff grinned as he used up the last of his knives.

Dysley stood tall as the Cie'th started to rise. His perfect children.

"Jihl, incoming, two sacrifices." Vaal said and poked her head out. A smirk tugged at her lips as she watched the soldiers get cut down, just a few more to go and it would all be over. Looking over to Jihl she was caught by surprise. "Love?" Vaal asked and quickly moved over to Jihl. The blonde had her eyes closed and pressed against her cover. "Jihl, speak to me."

"I'm fine." Jihl peeked open her eyes and fought back a chuckle. "Just give me a moment." She said, exhaling as she looked down to her shaking hand. "Of all the bloody times."

Cliff and Rigel pulled back to cover, the threat of the gargantuan Cie'th diminishing their assault. "What the bloody hell is that?" Cliff shouted as he switched to his rifle. Despite using the anti-armour rounds, their bullets only seemed to send shards of crystal debris flying, chipping away slowly at their armour. "Jihl, a hand?"

Jihl took a deep breath, exhaling slowly with the hopes of stopping the tremors, Vaal helped. Springing from cover, she ignored the scrambling soldiers and focused her fire into the back of the Cie'th approaching her team. The monster staggered and roared, turning to the blonde who eyed it down. It hesitated at the woman standing before it. She was familiar, she was family, she was... The memories forced their way into it's mind as it looked upon her.

Jihl stopped and stared at the Cieth, it was different this time but she couldn't forget the aura surrounding it. A soft warm red glow hummed in it's crystals. "Darling?" Jihl softly spoke trying to emanate her mother as much as she could as she approached the Cie'th. "Is that you, Amberly?" The Cie'th wailed and dropped it's offensive stance. Jihl chuckled and raised a hand to Amberly's cheek. "It's okay baby, I forgive you for attacking me. The real enemy are those men, can you help us baby?" Jihl asked. She got a chilling wail in response and the other Cie'th stopped and turned to face them, giving a call of it's own. "Thank you. Dysely you forgot one thing!" Jihl shouted as she ignored the Cie'th that dispatched the troops in her way. "You may have stolen a piece of the Ark but I run the whole damn thing." Taking the opportunity she now had, she approached the terminal to initiate the shut down procedures.

Dysley glared at the Cie'th and growled at them. "You! How dare you betray me! Kill her! She threatens you're very existance!" His shouts went unheeded by the Cie'th who drew intimidatingly closer. The other Cie'th had joined it's sister and turned on the Freedom soldiers on the other side.

Jihl looked to her teenage self that stood on her left. Vaal took her right. "Let's finish this." They both said and looked to Jihl who nodded.

"It's all over Dysley, you lost." Jihl said as she pressed her hand to the panel. A part of her laughed, she was a little disappointed as she actually half expected there to be a big red button. The wrinkled eyes narrowed as he glared furiously at her. To her surprise he and his frail looking arms managed to hold the large gun he had hidden somewhere underneath his robes steady as he fired. The bullet tore through her vest and sent her collapsing to her knees. "You may kill me impudent child but you cannot stop destiny."

"Destiny my-" Jihl's voice drowned out by the sound of the gun going off again, the bullet tearing through her good shoulder. Keeping her hand pressed on the panel, she reached for her sidearm, ignoring the pain flaring in her chest. "Hey..." Jihl rose to her feet and grinned. "Don't compensate, got it love." She winked and emptied her clip into Dysley. Watching as he staggered back. His eyes widened as Amberly moved with lightning speed and sent him soaring across the room with a blood curdling roar. Without another moment wasted she rushed back to Jihl.

"Fucking hell love! That was so damn hot." Vaal shouted, unable to contain her amazement. She knew her girlfriend was a monster slaying badass but cheesy one liners... Just damn. It didn't last long as Jihl barely managed to keep on her feet. Despite her taunt, it had been a pretty big gun and had left some pretty big holes. She hesitated as her hand hovered over the panel. "Vaal..." Jihl looked to the blonde who was pressed against her side with a knowing smile across her lips. "I love you, no matter what happens next. You know that right?"

Vaal put her hand over Jihl's and nodded. "Yeah, I know love. Well what are you waiting for? I'm waiting for you on the other side or something yeah."

Jihl huffed and rolled her eyes at Vaal. "I'm not religious Vaal."

"Pfft not religious, as I recall you worship me every night." Vaal winked with a dirty grin on her face. "Fine I'm in your heart or something then, alright love. I don't want to see you this way so let's get this done yeah? Otherwise I might think you're actually really lame." Vaal joked, her face brightening as Jihl managed to laugh with her.

"Oi crazy, don't go doing stuff without us." Cliff groaned and rolled his eyes as he moved over, using Rigel's shoulder to help him stay upright. "I missed enough and daddy ain't gonna skip out on this."

Jihl shuddered and gave him a cold glare. "Cliff, never call yourself daddy, ever."

"Hey I have a kid." Cliff said and looked at the others who were surprised. "What? I do, I'm married too."

"No way." Fang gawked at him, unable to believe that the idiot that wore a Hawaiian shirt and beach shorts to a combat mission could possibly ever be married. "I'm calling bullshit." Fang called out and received a soft jab from Lightning. "Lightning, I mean look at him! His last name is Sanwich!" Fang watched Lightning smirk and look at Cliff. He just sighed and hung his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up kid."

"Sorry to break up the moment but I'm kinda losing consciousness here." Jihl interrupted, her breathing was getting shallower by the second. "Before I do, I just want to say that it's been my pleasure serving with all of you. Especially you three idiots." She chuckled and looked to Fang, Rigel and Cliff. "And Lightning... I'm sorry I won't be able to see you and Fang get married and whatever else you have planned."

"Wait what?" Lightning's eyes widened into a glare as she watched Jihl. "What do you mean you won't be able to?"

"Fang you mind handling that one for me?" Jihl asked and staggered, her head growing lighter and her vision starting to wobble.

"No problem, Colonel. Vaal you take care of her you hear me!" Fang shouted just to make sure the Major could hear her.

"Bloody hell, dumbass. I'm right here." Vaal winced and eyed Fang for a short moment before she put her arm around Jihl's shoulder and nodded. "and Yeah you got it. Now love, are you ready?"  
"Mhm." Jihl nodded and smiled as she kept her eyes focused on Vaal. "Alright I'm going to end this."

As soon as Jihl's hand pressed the button the lights in the room all turned red, a computerised voice announcing something that was all a blur to Jihl. She was all too busy fighting to stay conscious. Her mind however was thrown into a daze, spinning uncontrollably as if suddenly she was being separated from her body. That didn't stop her from feeling the hollow burning pain raging inside of her and as if everything was ripped from her in an instant. Her vision fluttered one last time, her legs wobbled and she watched Fang and Lightning, and Cliff and Rigel. Everyone looking at her in horror as she suddenly fell limp to the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

Brass and Lightning: Epilogue

* * *

The repetitive beeping of hospital machines filled the blank space in Jihl's mind, slowly calling her back to life or whatever it was that awaited her. Slowly her eyes crept open and the light burned for a moment. It was bright, it was daytime. Taking a few minutes to finally get seated back behind the controls of her body again, Jihl looked around the hospital room she was in. It was flashy, expensive, lacking in the cheap fluorescent lights and that god awful smell that hospitals had about them. Her room had a TV, a closet, a set of drawers and a balcony that overlooked the hospital grounds. Oddly enough, her kit had also been brought into her room as well. Her attempt to sit up sent pain tearing through her shoulder and brought her attention to the sling her arm was now in. She quickly pried herself free from the bed and rushed over, digging through the pockets of her bag. Her frantic search ended when she felt the photo she kept between her fingers. It was her and Vaal, when they snuck out from base and went to a bar Vaal insisted was actually called a 'pub' and had gotten drunk. Vaal asked her out as she finished her sixth pint of beer and had insisted they take a photo to commemorate the occasion. Whitman and White had been there too. Neither had minded about their presence because somehow Vaal had been able to talk her way out of having snuck off base. Jihl slowly walked back to the bed and sat down as she began to tear up. She brushed a finger over the face of the intoxicated blonde and sighed. She was gone. In reality and now even from Jihl's own selfish delusions. Jihl sat the picture aside and let the loneliness sink in. She should have died in the Ark too, she was supposed to but that at least was a problem she could solve. Not a single thought of doubt crossed her mind as she walked back over to her bag and opened up the hidden compartment in her bag to retrieve the revolver she'd got from Vaal all those years ago now. She waited, expecting a comment from Vaal, a joke or some stupid remark but the silence only dug her down deeper. "I'll be with you soon, I promise." Jihl whispered and she traced her fingers over the initials 'V.S.' inscribed in the frame of the revolver. She sat back down on the bed and smiled as she remembered the mess it had made of White. It would definitely work.

"Oi love, you in there!" Jihl froze up and forced her attention up at the door as it opened slowly. Vaal poked her head inside, chuckling as she forced her eyes back up to Jihl. "Hey." She said, unable to stop her smile from spilling across her face. Her boots echoed against the floor as she stepped closer. "Sorry I took so long, your parents wanted to run every damn test under the sun I bloody swear. Had to sneak my way out to see you. Really I think they were just trying to keep me away." Vaal chuckled and slowly approached, her eyes widening in caution as she spotted the firearm nestled in Jihl's hands.

Jihl forced herself to look at Vaal. "You're not real, please stop. I want it to end." Jihl begged and shuffled back across the bed. She watched Vaal hesitantly, the woman stopped and smiled reassuringly.

Vaal held her hands up as non-threatening as she could and slowly crept forward. "Love it is over. We won. The Cie'th are gone love." Vaal huffed. "Or do you mean us?" She said shyly, her voice going quiet.

"No, I love you so much Vaal, it's just..." Jihl said and shook her head. "...you're not real. I imagined you. I have imagined you this whole time since the time I lost you in the hospital."

"Love..." Vaal slowly got up on the bed and inched herself over to Jihl. "I'm so god damn sorry. I shouldn't have left you." She whispered and leant down closer, her hand brushing softly against Jihl's. "Now please, the gun." Vaal very slowly reached out. Jihl whimpered as Vaal took the gun from her and sat it as far away as she could. "That's a really dumb plan." Vaal whispered to Jihl and chuckled.

Jihl managed to smile uneasily as she sat up on the bed. "A dumb plan, that's coming from you?"

"Yes it is, Miss Sanchez.." Vaal grinned from ear to ear as she leant down and brushed Jihl's hair out of her face. "You're quite the mess you know. I was expecting you all prim and proper for me when I arrived." She laughed as she poked at a messy strand of hair.

"I've been unconscious Vaal, and for who knows how long." Jihl grumbled as the blonde wiggled on top of her. The feeling of Vaal's skin against hers, moving according to the other blonde's will oh so teasingly only made her heart flutter all the more.

"Four weeks, you've been unconscious for four long weeks love or so your parents told me. But I think we can post pone that talk for later can't we?" Jihl nodded and bit her lip as Vaal kissed her and pressed her back into the bed. The colonel moaned, her protests lost long before they had a chance to surface. Instead she wiggled and shifted, pulling her body against Vaal to deepen the kiss.

Jihl gently nudged her back when her lungs protested for air. "Please tell me you're real." Jihl begged, her hands clung tight onto Vaal as she waited for an answer.

"I am, love but if you don't believe me-" Vaal snickered as she kissed her again. "I am more than happy to prove it to you." Jihl fell silent, her chest stilled as Vaal slipped her hands down underneath her shirt. Her fingers fluttered over her skin, crossed her bellybutton and tugged the hem of her pants.

"Please." Jihl whimpered and stared at the blonde. "Don't stop."

"Of course not love but we should save this for when we're not in a hospital bedroom." Vaal said, all to happy to enjoy the look of disappointment on Jihl's face. "But kissing you." Vaal kissed Jihl again as if she would die if she didn't every few minutes. "We can do as much of that as you want."

"I still don't trust that woman." Amelia grumbled as she quickly moved through the hospital, it was a quiet Sunday with most everyone celebrating in the streets yet she still moved as fast as she could. She had the most unnerving feeling that crawled across her skin. Having finished up the last of shut-down procedures, she and Amberly had been finally freed from their tiresome work in the Ark. It didn't help that more than a few little birdies had remarked on the similarities between the Colonel of the GP responsible for their new found peace and her own features. Amberly snickered as she barely kept her pace with the woman storming along at full speed in high heels. "Ames slow down, I'm wearing boots and I'm struggling to keep up." Amberly chuckled and gave the blonde a playful nudge as they passed by a pair of hospital staff who eyed them cautiously. "It's not like she's going anywhere. Also Ames, Vaalashanka isn't that bad. Trust me you'll love her when you actually met her. She reminds me of you." Amberly reassured her wife. From the blonde's expression however, she had chosen to remain adamant about her initial judgement of the major.

"In what way?" Amelia asked curious to whether or not Amberly could actually back up her claim.

"She's stubborn." Amberly laughed and winced as Amelia punched her in the arm.

"She does not!" Amelia stopped outside of the room she was given for Jihl. "I am not stubborn." Her expression softened into a motherly frown "You saw her record Amberly, that woman reeks of trouble." She said and crossed her arms. "I don't want our daughter getting mixed up in any of that."

"Hehe baby you know, our daughter is in her mid twenties. I'm sure she's already gotten mixed up in all kinds off trouble. I mean she's a Colonel of a shadowy assassin squad, that might I add, just saved the world." Amberly laughed as Amelia's frown only deepened. "Hey maybe she's got tattoo's too, or piercings, maybe both." Amberly teased.

"Woman you are testing my patience." Amelia sighed and did her best to ignore the redheaded idiot beside her. "Can we just see our daughter, please?"

Amberly nodded as she brushed her lips against Amelia's. "Of course honey. Shall we?"

"Mhmm, lets." Amelia said enthusiastically. She reached out and pushed open the door. It lasted for about a good four seconds. "Don't say anything." She mumbled as she looked at the scene before her.

Amberly kissed her neck and chuckled, she just couldn't help herself. "Meow meow choco... Oww!"

Amelia scowled and puffed up her chest. "You deserved that, idiot. Now, Jihlian Yuderris-Pritchard! Wake up this instant!"

Jihl squirmed under the gaze of the older blonde woman who had resigned herself to the chair across from her. She was staring at her, looking her up and down with the eagle like green eyes hidden behind a pair of thin framed glasses. Her cold expression gave way and softened into a smile. "You've become quite a beautiful young woman Jihlian."

"Thank you... mother." She said the last part uneasily, the word was alien to her. Her eyes slowly met the older blonde who was doing her best to appear as non-threatening as she could. The boyish woman with fiery red hair and an aura that screamed military stood behind her. She snickered and waved when Jihl met her gaze

"Hey kiddo. Nice to meet you again." She said with her lips set into a smile. Leaning down, she nipped Amelia on the neck. "Baby, smile." Amberly chuckled.

"I am smiling." Amelia huffed and frowned as she looked back to Jihl. "The last time I saw you, you were knee high. Now look at you. I've missed so much." Amelia said remorsefully, her eyes scouring over Jihl for the thousandth time. "I'm so proud of you darling." Amelia's cheer dropped as she looked to the Major sitting beside her daughter. "Even if you've made some less then stellar decisions." She added in a sour tone and turned her disapproving gaze to Vaal, earning another chuckle from Amberly. "But it is thanks to Miss Sanchez that you are who you are so thank you."

"No problem there ma'am. Jihl has turned out to be a fine young woman in my opinion too." She said and glanced over to Jihl who was nervously reaching for her hand. Vaal took it and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Shame I wasn't around for the majority of it."

"But it was because of you I kept going. I didn't want your sacrifice to be in vain." Jihl said shakily and leant over to Vaal, finding comfort in her arms. "Thank you." She whispered softly before she pressed into a kiss. Warmth flooded her against her lips, soothing the pain that had lingered inside her for so long.

"Ahem." Amelia cleared her throat to remind her daughter of her current company. "Darling as much as I know you're old enough to have a relationship, please do not involve me. You're still my little girl and this woman is hardly my first, or any choice for that matter." Amelia said and dreaded the thought. "That aside darling, what is the plan for the rest of the day?"

Jihl sat for a moment as she pondered the possibility of leaving the hospital. "Well if I do get cleared to leave, I would probably have a shower, eat something with taste and sleep."

"You were just asleep." Vaal complained.

"Yes, but it wasn't with you." Jihl added, exhaling as Vaal went red in the face. She definitely was not the Vaal from her delusions, she was better. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Hehehe right, love. Well umm how about we get you looking half decent and go to Fang's place first? She invited us to dinner whenever you decided to wake up." With a mischievous grin, Vaal leant close and whispered. "Then we can ditch your parents and 'sleep'."

"That sounds wonderful Vaal." Jihl chirped happily. "Now let's see about getting me released shall we."

Amberly and Amelia bid their daughter goodbye for a short period of time, Amelia was quite insistent that Jihl call her tomorrow as soon as she could. Jihl must have promised it a hundred times over before Amelia was satisfied and left Jihl in Vaal's hands. She and Amberly had their own reacquainting to do. Jihl changed out of her scrubs into a pair of clothes she'd put in her bag on her trip to the last Ark. A whistle caught her ears as she pulled on a black T-shirt to go with her jeans.

"Looking good love." Vaal purred as she admired every curve of her girlfriend. "Scrubs are one thing but jeans are just damn. We better be careful I don't put you back in hospital."

"Thank you." Jihl huffed meekly and took a glance at herself in the mirror. She was rough, the scars from her triumphant battle still showing on her skin. With a chuckle she brushed a strand of hair out of her face and nodded. "Okay Vaal, I think I'm ready."

"Hehe love, you were made ready." Vaal laughed and picked up Jihl's bag, wanting to carry it for her. "Now we should get out there before the rest of the boys storm in here."

"The rest of the boys?" Jihl asked, her body already taking a step towards the door. "You mean-"

"Mhm. They are all waiting for you, Colonel and god damn there's a lot more than I remember."

The door opened and Jihl slowly walked out. The people sitting in the chairs outside of her room definitely made for an intimidating sight. She couldn't help but laugh as their eyes locked with her and they shot to their feet to salute her.

"Colonel, welcome back to the land of the living." Raines greeted her and looked to the others who nodded, sharing his thoughts. They all had their own host of wounds, bandages and scars marking their victory. None of which dampened the smiles on their faces. "We started getting worried we would be taking orders from Fang soon."

"Yes let's not go there while I'm still alive." Jihl laughed, the Pulsian was oddly absent. "Men and Women of the GP, the day I promised to you over all these years has finally come to pass. The false flag of Freedom has fallen and the ARK's are a threat no longer." Jihl winced at the pain that kept reassuring her of that fact. "I can't tell you what comes next, whether tomorrow we will be celebrated or forgotten. Whether tomorrow we will still exist, whether our organisation will exist, I have no idea however while it lasts however I bid you all enjoy the peace while we have it. You have more than earned it. Enjoy the future our fallen brothers and sisters have fought and died for. I could not be more proud to have stood at your side." Jihl staggered and reached for Vaal.

The blonde rushed to her side. "You okay love?"

"Yeah just, a little dizzy." She muttered and clung onto Vaal. "Sorry, looks like I'm going to have to cut it short. Oh and do tell Fang I might be a little late."

"Vaal, not so tight." Jihl winced and glared over to her shoulder, her girlfriend smiling innocently.

"Oops." She chuckled and kissed Jihl on the cheek. "Sorry love, buttons aren't my thing. Unbuttons however..." Vaal teased her fingers over Jihl's pants.

"Major Sanchez if you take these pants off, you will be the death of me."

"Drat, you uncovered my plan to usurp you as Colonel of the GP and here I was at least hoping to get down to your underpants before you did. Do you want it a little looser, your shirt? Or you could always borrow one of mine." Vaal asked softly. "Hey love?" She whispered, carefully bringing herself closer to Jihl.

"Mmm I am off duty aren't I?" Jihl asked.

Vaal nodded. "Uh huh, until you recover."

"Well then if you don't mind, darling, my arm is still sore."

Vaal rolled her eyes and lifted her fingers back up to the accursed buttons on Jihl's top. "Of course, love." She said and wasted no time in getting to work on changing Jihl's outfit to something remotely comfortable. "Do you always dress like a stiff?"

"A stiff?"

"You're the one wearing a suit to Fang's party. You know Fang isn't the suit type, neither am I."

"Well then it's a good thing for us I'm already used to them isn't it. I'll get to see you in a dress too."

Vaal stopped and stared at Jihl. "Love you don't mean..."  
"Mhm. I've had you at my side this whole time, I don't see why I'd change that now." Jihl kissed her gently on the lips. "But first take me on an actual date okay?"

"Hey I did, remember when I snuck us off base." Vaal chuckled as Jihl rested against her shoulder.

"That was unpleasant and cold. I want somewhere nice and warm. A cafe or something might be nice for a change." Jihl said softly and nestled herself a little more into Vaal.

"As long as you leave your vest at home love." Vaal snickered at the nearly sleeping figure resting against her shoulder. "Do you still want to go to Fang's party love? If you're tired I'll call her to let her know and we can just sleep tonight. Maybe put on some cheesy ass movie and you can cuddle up with me love. We can see her tomorrow love when you wake up. Maybe lunch, at a cafe."

"No, I want to go now." Jihl shook her head and forced her eyes open. "I'm fine, it's just the painkillers are a little stronger than I thought they would-" Jihl was cut off by as she yawned.

"Mmm it's really cute love. You're so adorable when you're sleepy." Vaal snickered and leant into a kiss. Jihl whimpered and gripped onto Vaal's shoulders to stop herself from tumbling over backwards. "You know, sleep is what the doctor ordered." Vaal said and bit her lip when Jihl gave her a frown.

"We are going to that party Vaal, if only for a short while. I want to just relax and unwind, which you can help with later when we get back. You also have to meet Fang's girlfriend."

"Oh fairyfloss right?" Vaal asked, suddenly peaking up the mention of the woman.

"Lightning, yes. They're finally back together, I think. I'll explain on the way over. Now if you don't mind, can you drive?"

"Mhm, I sure can love." Vaal said with a grin.

Jihl sat down in a seat and vowed never to leave, or at least never sit in the passenger seat with Vaal driving again. Her hands shook as she raised a cigarette to her lips but truthfully the shaking was less from Vaal's driving and more to do with the fact that she was surrounded by people she didn't know. That sent shivers down her spine.

"Love?" Vaal called out softly to Jihl, pulling her back to reality. "You okay?" She asked and anchored Jihl under the warm gaze of her brown eyes.

"There's a lot of people here." Jihl chuckled nervously as she looked around. She stopped and smiled as she felt a hand reassuringly brush against hers.

"I'll keep you safe, I promise." Vaal said loudly so Jihl could hear her over the clamour of the room. Jihl had spotted a couple of her soldiers, Raines, Rosch, the one with glasses she couldn't remember the name of. Her eyes lit up in relief as she spotted Fang on approach.

"Ah so you actually did show at your own party?" Jihl remarked and watched Fang nod.

"You think I'd miss it? Plus someone has to keep the vultures away." Fang said and looked over her shoulder. "I told everyone to give you space but the new Primarch has been quite eager to make your acquaintance."

"New Primarch?" Jihl asked, still unaware of recent events.

"Uh huh, he hasn't been officially crowned or whatever it is they do here but he's got enough of the Primarch's guards with him to make a pretty good guess. Considering you ended the last Primarch and saved Cocoon, I reckon he's here in a gesture of good faith. Here." Fang grinned and offered Jihl an unopened beer. "Thought I'd save you the trek to the fridge."

"Thank you." Jihl said and sat it next to the couple of beers Vaal had already grabbed.

Fang pulled a seat over and sat down. "So how are you holding up?"

Jihl took a moment to respond. "I'm... Getting better. The painkillers help but I feel like I'm going to collapse at any second."

"That so? Gonna crash after the party?" Fang asked and fought back a laugh. It had been a while since she'd seen Jihl so at ease.

"Mhm, right into this one's arms." Jihl chuckled and leant against Vaal.

"You mean right beside me." Vaal added and gave everyone a smug grin. "You can't engage in any strenuous physical activities for a month. Ah it's gonna be fun seeing you all needy love." She teased and leant back in her seat.

Jihl puffed up her chest and pouted. "I won't share the bed with you." She huffed childishly.

"Love..." Vaal huffed and leant over. Her hands gently ran down the shoulders of Jihl's top. "I want to, believe me, if we could I would gladly borrow Fang's guest bedroom right now."

"Or my room, if it is still here?" Jihl looked over to Fang, the Pulsian blushed as she nodded. "You know, I am feeling a bit tired, and your driving was horrific."

"Lightning would love to have you over for breakfast, Serah too. They would kill you if you didn't show your face."

"Thank you, that sounds wonderful however there's still the matter of the Primarch.-"

"Don't worry about him, he can kiss ass some other time." Fang shrugged. "Now you need to go get some sleep before you pass out in my living room. Oh and don't be too loud alright?" Fang added with a tiny smirk tugging at her lips.

Jihl rolled her eyes as Fang stood up and looked around the room. "You haven't changed a bit Fang."

"Come on I definitely have. I follow speed limits now and I shop for two and I got pretty damn hot." Fang said proudly with a wink.

"Fang?" Lightning called out from somewhere in the house.

"Right I better go before the wife kills me." Fang grinned from ear to ear as she flashed the ring she wore proudly on her finger.

"Wait Fang you can't just-"

"And she's gone love. So I guess that makes Private Yun a part of the family then, I always wanted a sister. Even if she is annoying and intolerable at times. How can someone be so happy all the time?" Vaal laughed and took Jihl's hand in hers. "Now come on you adorable dork, let's get you upstairs so I can kiss you some more, love."

"I thought you said no strenuous activity?" Jihl said, purring at the thought of feeling Vaal's lips against hers again.

"Hey, I'll be gentle."

"Gentle? Vaal those are my legs and I quite like my legs." Jihl winced as Vaal in her not so sober state failed to navigate through the corridor, again, and banged Jihl into the wall, again. "Ouch, that was my shoulder." Jihl winced, feeling the pain a little through the drugs and alcohol.

"Sorry it's just you're hea... I'm drunker than I thought. Those Cocoonian beers right?" Vaal laughed under the look Jihl was giving her. Somehow managing to open the door without dropping Jihl. She softly laid Jihl down on the bed. "There we are." Vaal gave her a look over before quickly shutting the door and ensuring it was thoroughly locked. "Now where was I?" She asked teasingly as she pulled off her boots and joined Jihl on the bed.

"Ahem, I believe it was how heavy I was."

"Hehehe oh right. Well-" Vaal fingers quickly found the hem of Jihl's shirt and removed it with ease, leaving her in a sports bra. "You are heavier than I last remembered. Must be all this muscle." Vaal said and ran her fingers over Jihl's abs. Remarkably Jihl had managed to hide her musculature underneath her uniform quite well.

"Well of course. I didn't want to fail as the leader of my team so I ensured I was as developed in every aspect I could be." Jihl gulped, trembling as Vaal's fingers slowly inched up her stomach, the feeling was heavenly. "So I made sure I was... physically capable." She gulped and bit her lip. Silently, she wanted Vaal's touch to travel higher. Instead her fingers stopped and reversed, snaking down over her stomach and brushed against the belt she was wearing.

"I thought you said we had to be gentle?" Jihl asked with heavy breaths. A kiss pressed against her stomach quickly put an end to that.

"Oh, I will be." Vaal whispered and pulled the belt free. It joined the shirt on the floor.

Jihl's eyes stayed locked on Vaal as she wiggled Jihl out of her pants and tossed them aside. Running ran her fingers up the tights Jihl had on underneath, Vaal's grin widened as Jihl moaned quietly and let her head fall back into the blankets. "Feel good love?"

"Divine." Jihl moaned as Vaal's fingers drew closer and closer to where she wanted them to be.

"Are these tights expensive?" Vaal asked, her cheeky grin went unnoticed as she pressed her fingers into the fabric, they definitely felt expensive.

"Wait-" Jihl's heart felt like it was being ripped open with her tights. Her only consolation was the dumb smile on Vaal's face as she tore open the crotch, and then a little more, purely an accident.

"Oops." Vaal laughed and leant down against Jihl, making sure not to put too much pressure against her.

"Don't you oops me. That was on purpose, admit it."

"Well you know love, it might have been on my list of things to do."

"Oh and what else is on that list?" Jihl asked curious.

"I want to kiss you." Vaal purred.

"We did plenty of that in the hospital didn't we?" Jihl watched Vaal closely as she shook her head and slid back down to Jihl's waist. Her fingers gently pressing into the skin of Jihl's inner thighs as she lowered her mouth in little soft kisses that trailed down from her stomach to her privates. "Well I meant another kind of kissing. Something a little more intimate considering we can't do a whole lot of anything else."

"Oh?" Jihl asked and watch Vaal disappear between her legs.

"Ahem." Serah cleared her throat and looked across the table to the blonde nervously fidgeting. Her face was bright red despite the make up she'd put on to try and cover up the mess Vaal had left her. "It's good to finally see you again Jihl." Serah giggled and grinned at the woman who just smiled back as best as she could. Serah grumbled quietly to herself about not being able to smother her adoptive sister in hugs due to her shoulder injury. Although that gave her all the more hugs for Lightning whose side she hadn't left all night, or well nearly all night. Fang pulled Lightning into her room and locked the younger Farron out for the night. Although it wasn't all bad. She did end up talking to a redhead until the early hours of the morning. She giggled to herself and looked down at her phone. Really it had been impossible for her to take her attention away from it.

"Good morning love." Vaal said as she entered the room wearing one of Jihl's old college shirts and put her arms around Jihl's waist. "And good morning to you two lovebirds. You look like you had fun last night too."

"Oh yeah, it's been a while." Fang stretched her arms over her head and winked at Lightning.

"Fang it's only been a week." Lightning said and rolled her eyes. Her attention turned to Serah who was supposed to be helping her cook. "Ahem, Serah are you really going to talk to Snow all this time? I'm sure Snow can live without you for a minute."  
"Oh! It's not snow." Serah said and glanced at her phone again, her smile widening a little more.

"Serah..." Lightning mustered her best big sister look and glared at Serah. "She's cute, that's all I'm saying."

"Hey, she doesn't happen to be a redhead does she?" Fang asked and looked down at her phone. "Who is bouncy and energetic like a hamster drank a hundred cups of coffee. Oh and a lightweight that gets drunk after two drinks?

Serah gave Fang a confused look. "Wait a minute-"

"You should invite her out to lunch tomorrow, or I could do it for you." Fang snickered to herself and typed away at her phone. "It's gonna be fun."

"Who is she?" Lightning asked and leant over to peek at Fang's phone but the Pulsian turned it off before she could. "Fang."

"Mmm it's Serah's little secret she can tell."

"Oh you mean her?" Jihl asked.

"Yeah, you know her?"

Jihl nodded. "I got information on all of you as part of being team leader. I looked through your folder Fang out of curiosity, it was interesting to read."

"Anything dirty?"

"No actually, it was rather boring. I expected a long list of dirt." Jihl chuckled. "But Vaal's background on the other hand is something I really wanna read."

"Oooh yes, Major?" Fang asked and looked to the woman who went wide-eyed as the conversation suddenly steered in her direction.

"Nope." Vaal said and hurried out of arms reach with the excuse of getting another cup of coffee. "Not unless you're all drunk enough to forget. I mean there's some things I'm not proud of."

"Like?" Lightning asked calmly.

"Shoplifting a sex store." Vaal blurted out and hid behind her cup. "What, I was sixteen and curious." She sighed and sat down next to Vaal. "That's all it is I swear, just dumb stuff I did as a kid."

"So what's the plan for today? The Primarch I assume?" Jihl asked and looked to the blonde on her good shoulder.

"Well I was thinking we could instead spend the day watching movies and just relaxing. Oh wait, take out, god yes right love? Also Fang and Lightning do have a very nice couch and you do have to rest up."

"Wait I thought you spent the night with me." Jihl said a little saddened that her girlfriend had left her in the night.

"Well I tried to it's just I woke up at five in the morning and as much as I enjoy laying in your arms love, habits are habits. I ended up going for a run around the city."

"And then you came back and crawled back into bed beside me? Cute."

"Hehe look at you love, using words like cute. Be careful or else people might start thinking you're not a total badass."

Jihl giggled and took the initiative as she leant in and pressed her lips to Vaal's. The kiss lasted long enough for her cheeks to turn red."Now that is a plan I can get behind, babe."

"Babe?" Vaal chuckled back at her.

"No good?" Jihl asked hesitantly. "Fang and Lightning have their nicknames for each other so I it would be, nice, if we had nicknames too. Plus you already call me love."

"Wait." Serah looked over to her older sister. "What's Fang's nickname." She asked curious and turned to her sister who was as tight lipped as ever. "Jihl?"

Jihl's lips curled into a smirk as she was met with a death glare from Lightning. "Oh no, this is a Farron thing."

"You are a Farron, no matter what you're last name is." Serah beamed a smile over to her other older sister. "Sooooo spill. Fang's nickname?"

"I can't say, I promised Claire I wouldn't." Jihl said and couldn't help but laugh. She had stumbled upo it in a rather heated moment in college.

"Hehe tell me later?"  
"I can't, not even you."

"Fine then, no birthday sex for you."

"It was four weeks ago."

"Late birthday sex then. Now, if you're done with breakfast, love, how about we move over to the couch?"

"Alright then but can you carry me babe?" Jihl looked pleadingly to Vaal and grinned as the blonde let out a sigh.

"Well this is anti-climatic." Jihl grumbled from the safety of Vaal's arms, comfortably snuggled up against the blonde with a cup of cocoa in her hands as they watched movies with Lightning and Fang cuddling on the other couch. Vanille had gone out to meet a friend and moved quicker than Lightning had ever seen her little sister do so.

"What do you mean love?" Vaal asked and pried her attention away from the fifty story tall behemoth wreaking havoc on a black and white Pulse City.

"Well I mean we're just sitting here watching movies, it's like a dream come true after what we've been through. It's just, it feels wrong I mean, to do nothing."  
Vaal shrugged and chuckled. "There's nothing wrong about it. The world owes you at least one day where you can feel like a normal woman."

"Honestly it's all kinda lame how we ended it isn't it." Fang butted in. "Our last mission was just a normal mission. Sneak through the city, be badass and kill some guys. I was hoping for something a little more epic. Explosions and giant monsters, that sort of stuff." Fang dropped the idea quickly under the increasing adorable little glare Lightning was forming. "Not that I'm complaining about how it worked out. This is just fine by me, Sunshine." Fang remarked and leant against Lightning.

"So Fang, Lightning I'm a tad curious. What did you two get up to before our last mission? You had a month off after all." Jihl asked.

Fang broke into a dumb grin as she cleared her throat. "Ahem well it goes something like this. Once upon a time..."

"Fang, I'm telling it." Lightning said without room for negotiation, already annoyed with how Fang was telling it.

"Huh, why?"

"You'll exaggerate things and you always say to much. There are things I want to keep between us." Lightning looked at Fang who relented and leant back so Lightning had the space to sit up. "So first off there was 'that' which we had to deal with so being herself Fang invited me out to coffee where she apologised. You are terrible at apologies by the way."  
"Hehe I was just born to break hearts Sunshine."

"God you're a dumbass. So-"

"Hold on love." Vaal interrupted and couldn't help but grin. "Start from the start, like the start start? I wanna hear the whole thing."

"And you want dirt?" Fang snickered.

Vaal giggled. "Mmm well I wouldn't need to ask if I wanted dirt. I've still got super secret spy contacts."

"Which are not secret if you tell people." Jihl pointed out.

The blonde wiggled on top of Jihl and smirked. "Well you'll be good and keep it a secret, won't you, love?"

"Cheating." Jihl huffed and cursed herself for blushing.

"Ahem." Lightning cleared her throat and glared at them both. "That is my couch. I don't need to burn another one, thank you."

"Funny Lightning considering how many times I found you two procreating on my couch. I deserve to ruin a couch or two surely." Jihl looked at Lightning and the glare she was giving her. "Fine, fine." Jihl rolled her eyes and returned to just laying in Vaal's arms.

"Thank you, now let's see. Right, it was the first year of university. Jihl and I were friends, a run-away and an orphan. I let her stay with Serah and I. It was my first month at the Bodhum College, Unfortunately or so I thought at the time, all Guardian Corps recruits have to take a mandatory Pulsian Dialects class. I arrived a little late and was hurrying through the halls when this.. thing." A smirk tugged at Lightning's lips as she pointed at Fang. Fang just looked guilty as hell. "wasn't looking where she was going and ran straight into me. It begins from there."

* * *

 **A/N: And done. No more OC's I swear. Regarding the ending, there is going to be a Fang/Lightning story in this universe that goes into things in more detail plus it actually has Lightning!**


End file.
